Instincts and Pride
by Rainb0wNinja
Summary: It's a well known fact that Gajeel and Laxus don't always get along, so how do they end up together like this? After going on a dangerous mission their relationship begins to shift towards something unexpected. Will they end up together? Rating will probably go up later on. May be some OOC as well. Laxeel.
1. Chapter 1

**There's something wrong with me. I'm obsessed with Yaoi! Okay, I've always been obsessed, but it's getting worse. I mean, I'm doing a Laxeel fic. There's only like, a few of these. But in my mind it's the perfect yaoi pair! They're both just so smexy, and I find them...oddly cute. Now, you can expect OOC in this, since Gajeel is already hard to keep in character. Writing him gay, for Laxus? Challenge. And since I've got zero experience writing Laxus, there's another challenge. But I say challenge accepted!**

**I own nothing!**

* * *

It was another ordinary day in the guild as the usual brawl took place. Several pieces of furniture had already been smashed but nobody cared of course. It was mostly the male members participating as always but a few females had joined in this time. Cana had jumped in when her barrel of alcohol had been smashed and Erza joined when someone knocked her cake off a table and then proceeded to step on it. The others had smartly taken refuge upstairs. Different types of magic flew around, making it that much more dangerous. Natsu's fire had nearly burned down the guild twice already. If it wasn't for Gray's ice magic swirling around every where the guild probably wouldn't exist anymore. Elfman could frequently be heard yelling things about being a man as he punched Natsu right into a table, smashing it to pieces. However, due to the fact that so many people were involved, Natsu mistakenly thought Gray had punched him, causing him to light his fist up with flames and lunge at the raven. Gray expertly dodged but that left a certain iron dragon slayer open, who had been standing behind the ice mage for a sneak attack. Gajeel was caught of guard but quickly recovered, transforming his arm into iron and blocking the hit. The flames didn't even leave a mark on his iron skin.

He quickly stretched his iron covered arm into a pole and shot it at Natsu in retaliation, but the boy jumped up and landed on it, quickly doing a back flip before Gajeel could shake him off. He landed right on the shoulders of a lightning dragon slayer who was none too pleased by the interruption. Using his magic, his body buzzed with electricity, shocking Natsu right off of him. This angered the pinkette and he quickly used his fire dragons roar at the blonde, who disappeared in a flash of lightning. Natsu was then punched in the face by a drunken Cana. Gajeel's skin prickled as he heard the buzzing sound of lightning right behind him and was quick to leap away. He snarled at the blonde mage, his arm turning into a sword. Laxus merely narrowed his eyes at him.

As Erza threw Elfman into the wall and punched Gray into a table, Natsu attempted to catch her off guard. She quickly spun around and glared murderously at him, causing his face to go white. He was quickly thrown to the other side of the guild, an angry Cana chasing after him. The woman was tackled by a blur, glaring as Jet finally stood still. She launched her cards at him, growling as he vanished and they instead hit Erza, causing a cat fight to break out. A chair was thrown at Gray who ducked quickly, thus resulting in a broken window. Before he could recover he was punched by Natsu, and then the two were tackled by Elfman.

All fighting came to an abrupt halt as the sound of electricity filled the air, a smoking Gajeel crashing into the wall with a very rare, pained yelp that sounded completely un-Gajeel like. Normally the guild wouldn't stop for something like that, but considering who it was and who had caused the pain, they realized things might be getting out of hand. Granted Laxus had changed since the whole Fantasia thing, and so did Gajeel. The two had settled their differences, or at least it seemed that way, but most of the guild members were still wary of their relationship. It was questionable sometimes whether or not Laxus truly forgave Gajeel for what he had done. And they all knew Laxus could sometimes get a little too angry. The man was a beast after all, a powerhouse, full of raw strength that excelled above nearly everyone else. It was only natural to be a bit concerned.

Gajeel stood with a grimace, holding his left side which still had smoke rising from it. He looked a little dazed from the impact and stumbled a bit, his legs weak. The Master chose that moment to yell at his brats, telling them to clean things up and settle down. He then sent a look at Laxus and nodded in the direction of his office. The blonde growled and went upstairs as everyone started cleaning up. Both Levy and Pantherlily quickly ran over to Gajeel, each looking worried. Gajeel didn't normally go down so easily like that. They wondered just how much power Laxus put into that last hit.

"Gajeel, are you okay?" Levy asked worriedly, her big hazel eyes looking up at her friend. She had never heard Gajeel make that sound before and knew he must really be hurt.

"He put way too much power into that hit, I wonder why. You should go to the infirmary." His faithful Exceed added, trying to get a better look at his partners side. Gajeel wouldn't remove his hand though.

"I'm fine." The dark haired man gritted out, his voice betraying his words. He wasn't fine at all. Not even close. But before the two could say anything else, he turned around and pushed open the guild doors.

Levy watched him limp away, her worry increasing. "Where are you going?" She asked, frowning as he didn't look back.

"Home." He replied in a bitter tone, wincing at every step he took.

"I'll go with you." Pantherlily said, taking a step forward only to stop as Gajeel growled at him. "Alone." He hissed, glancing over his shoulder to glare at the cat. He then continued limping away, ignoring the worried sets of eyes watch him until he disappeared.

"I wonder why Laxus did that..." Levy murmured, replaying the incident in her head. She had been watching from the second floor and saw Laxus strike Gajeel with his lightning, and it looked like he put all of his power into it. She was worried Gajeel might have a broken rib or two and wanted him to go to the infirmary. But he was too stubborn.

"Where's Gajeel?" The Master yelled from the second floor, eyes searching for a head of black hair. He noticed Levy and Pantherlily standing by the opened doors and got his answer. "Laxus!" He yelled again, waiting for his grandson to come.

When he did, Makarov pointed to the front doors and with a firm voice said, "Go find Gajeel and apologize, you damned brat!"

* * *

After finding out where Gajeel lived from Makarov, Laxus begrudgingly stomped over there, muttering curses all the way. In all honesty he wasn't sure why he attacked Gajeel like that. He just felt the urge to put Gajeel in his place, and so he did. He wasn't expecting the guy to go down so easily. But then again he was much stronger than Gajeel, and for some reason he wanted to prove that fact. The raven had been acting up anyways, trying to beat him when he knew it wouldn't work. Laxus had always felt like a dominant type which wasn't necessarily a good thing. Both Natsu and Gajeel seemed to be the same way so naturally it would cause some problems.

After finally reaching Gajeel's small house he angrily knocked on the door, his sensitive ears picking up a string of curses. A minute passed and he still got no response. So he tried again, this time louder, nearly pounding a hole into the door. He heard an angry growl before Gajeel finally yelled "Go away!"

Laxus sneered at the door as if Gajeel could see it. "Open the damn door, Redfox!"

"Fuck you, I said go away!" Gajeel yelled back, and Laxus could hear a door slam from within the house. If he had any patience whatsoever left, it was quickly vanishing.

"Come open this fucking door right now before I break it down you damn piece of scrap metal!" The lightning mage yelled, banging on the door for good measure. He heard a door slam back open and quick, angry footsteps pounded closer until the front door was promptly swung open, revealing a shirtless and very angry Gajeel. The first thing Laxus noticed were the bandages wrapped around his ribs.

"What the fuck do you want." Gajeel grounded out, his sharp teeth clenched together. Laxus glared down at him, fists clenched at his sides to keep control of himself. Even after beating him, Gajeel still had the nerve to act tough?

"Gramps made me come apologize for beating your sorry ass." Laxus muttered, sneering as Gajeel scoffed.

"I'm a grown fucking man, I don't need an asshole apologizing to me. If that's what you came for then you wasted your time. Now get out of my sight." The iron dragon slayer growled, his red eyes furious. He went to slam the door but Laxus quickly kicked it back open, stepping in to Gajeel's house.

"What did you call me?" He growled in a deep voice, enjoying how Gajeel subtly took a step back. Even if he did act tough, Laxus knew he was scared of him. He could smell it.

"You fucking heard me. Now get out of my house, _asshole_."

In a flash, the front door slammed shut and Gajeel was two feet away from Laxus, blood dripping from his split lip.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until you learn to watch your mouth around me, and show some respect to those stronger than you. Apparently the last time I kicked your ass you didn't learn anything." Laxus said, watching as Gajeel snarled and brought out his scales, his skin turning a dark gray color. "Don't do that. You know it won't do anything."

"Shut the fuck up!" Gajeel yelled, the next few minutes becoming a painful blur as Laxus attacked.

* * *

After Laxus left, Makarov went back downstairs to check on everyone and was pleased to see everything clean again. Everyone seemed a little shocked still from what happened. He overheard Mirajane talking about it with Lucy, Levy, Cana, Erza, Wendy, Carla and Pantherlily. Even Natsu and Gray were listening, neither of them had seen it happen like most of the girls did.

"I just don't know why Laxus did that to Gajeel. Everyone was fighting, I get that, but that wasn't just a playful guild fight. I can't help but wonder if Laxus truly forgives Gajeel for what happened." Mirajane said, her blue eyes looking troubled.

"It has nothing to do with that. Well, in a sense I suppose it might." Makarov said, plopping down next to Lucy, who looked curiously at him.

"Do you know what happened Master?" The blonde asked, wondering if Laxus told him anything while they talked.

"Of course I do, that idiot is my grandson after all. He didn't even need to tell me why, I already knew. It's a bit complicated though." The old man replied, his gaze turning serious. This gained everyone's attention.

"What is it, Gramps? What's wrong with Laxus?" Natsu asked, worry written in his olive eyes. Makarov took a deep breath before explaining.

"The same thing that's wrong with all you dragon slayers. You all have a sense of dominance that is out of your control. You get territorial about almost anything, especially around each other. However, Laxus is different. He is much stronger than any of you, and therefore feels the need to show his dominance much more often."

"What?! I could totally beat Laxus, I'm just as strong!" Natsu shouted, annoyed that even Makarov thought Laxus was more powerful.

"Oh please, you've never beaten him." Gray muttered, causing Natsu to glare at him.

"So that's why he attacked Gajeel? He needed to prove his dominance? But...Gajeel didn't do anything. I think..." Levy said, pausing to think it over.

"Yes, well, that brings me to my next point. Since those two have so much hostility towards each other from past incidents, it causes a lot more tension than you would think. Even if Laxus _did_ forgive him, he still feels the need to keep Gajeel in his place, which in Laxus' eyes is below him. It just comes as an instinct. But Gajeel is also incredibly territorial and therefore can't help but act up around him, trying to show that _he's_ the one who's dominant."

"I see..so putting those two around each other can have some really bad outcomes. But up until now they've been fine. Why all of a sudden?" Erza asked.

"That, I don't have an answer for. I think they've just been bottling it up inside this whole time and during today's fight it all just...burst out. But if you think about it, up until now they've kept their distance from each other. Laxus doesn't usually join the fights, so this has never been a problem."

"But they're together right now...shouldn't we be worried?" Wendy asked, wondering if Laxus had really apologized or not. Somehow she doubted it.

"Yes, we should be." Makarov answered, not really looking worried at all. Mirajane raised an eyebrow at this.

"You sent him over there knowing this. Why?" The barmaid asked, watching a grin spread across Makarov's face.

"Just testing a theory. Let's say we put all of the dragon slayers in one room and lock them in there. They have no way to get out. At first it would be a blood bath, all of them fighting for dominance. One of them would have to come out on top and be their leader. I know Laxus would be that person, and I'm not saying that because he's my grandson. He's an animal compared to the others. And after proving this to all of them, they would recognize him as they're protector. At that point they would be like lost puppies, following him around and doing whatever he says, not daring to act out. They would fear him, respect him, even love him. And he too would love them, feeling almost like a father that needed to protect his young."

"You make them sound like animals." Cana grumbled, though the picture of a bunch of puppies climbing all over Laxus was cute.

"Because that's what they are, in a sense. When it comes to dragon slayers and their instincts they might as well be animals. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. And they're all aware of everything I just said, since their dragons must have taught them about it."

"But I'm not like that..." Wendy said with a pout. Makarov grinned at this.

"You're too young, that's why. You're also female. Female dragons act differently unless around other females. Let's go back to my example where everyone's locked up. You would be the one they all protect right off the bat, seeing you as a little sister or daughter."

"That makes sense, I guess. But why do you know so much about dragon slayers?" The blue haired girl asked, which is just what everyone was thinking.

He grinned even more. "My grandson is one, of course I did my research on them. Plus I've got three more in my guild besides him. It's only safe for me to know all of this."

They all smiled at this, when suddenly Pantherlily frowned. "But you said this was just a theory. What if you're wrong, and Laxus just kills Gajeel right away? That's what some animals do to get rid of any threats."

"Oh, I've got faith in my boy. And Gajeel isn't that weak either, he's gotten much stronger. Laxus will undoubtedly win but it may not be that easy. Then again...I could be wrong. Gajeel seems to already have a fear of Laxus and may not fight back much. Time will tell I suppose." He shrugged, hoping he was right. He didn't want Gajeel to die.

"You're way too calm about this." Pantherlily muttered, fearing for his partners life. Gajeel better be okay when he gets home.

* * *

Gajeel staggered backwards as Laxus landed another punch to his face, his scales taking some of the blow. He knew Laxus was winning despite everything he tried doing to win, but he was glad that at least Laxus wasn't walking away unscathed. And despite knowing Laxus would win he just couldn't keep his mouth shut. It was like he had no control over what he said. Whenever Laxus said something his first instinct was to say something back. He really wanted to just be quiet so Laxus would leave him alone. But a deeper part of him wanted to beat Laxus to death. He was torn.

Laxus hissed as Gajeel's overly sharp nails scratched him across the face. "Resorting to scratching me, Redfox? Someone's desperate."

"Fuck you." Gajeel wheezed out, his breath coming out in short, ragged pants. The world spun as Laxus punched him in the chest, his back hitting the wall again. There were several large dents on his walls, each being the size of his body. Pantherlily would be pissed when he got home.

"Say one more thing and I'll use my full power on you." The blonde growled, his scales coming out to prove his point. Gajeel gulped and felt himself start to shake, not only from exhaustion and weakness, but from fear. Ever since the Fantasia ordeal Gajeel made sure to stay away from Laxus. He had felt the mans full power and knew damn well how painful it was. Laxus was a beast, not a man. Yet Gajeel didn't like feeling weak. He didn't like fearing someone. And he certainly didn't like giving up and giving someone the satisfaction of winning. So despite knowing now really was the time to shut up, his pride wouldn't let him.

"I don't give a fuck what you do! I'm not backing down!" He yelled, his body betraying him and shaking more as Laxus' scales covered his whole body and he grew larger, just like that time in the cathedral. When his massive body started sparking and his hands glowed with electricity he subconsciously pressed further into the wall. This was going to hurt.

"Then you're going to learn the hard way." Laxus muttered darkly, charging up all of his power into one hand and then releasing it, watching as it struck Gajeel and electrocuted every inch of his body. The fact that Gajeel was practically made of metal only made it worse. It was just like the time Laxus attacked Gajeel after Jet and Droy, only worse. Gajeel felt his vision go white as he screamed, his body completely tense. Everything stung. It burned on a completely different level, not even close to Natsu's flames. Gajeel felt like he would die any second.

When it finally stopped, Gajeel collapsed onto the floor, his scales gone. Laxus returned to normal as well, sneering down at the barely conscious Gajeel. His eyes snapped to the spot where the bandages were. They had burned off during the last attack and now Laxus could see the effect of what he had done in the guild. A large bruise marred the skin there, and there was an open wound that still bled from being burned so much by lightning. There had to be broken ribs. Laxus walked over and promptly slammed his boot onto the area, glaring as Gajeel stiffened and cried out.

"_I_ am stronger than _you_, and if you forget your place again, I _won't_ hold back. Got it?" He spat, putting more pressure when Gajeel glared defiantly at him. "Got it?!" He asked again, removing his foot when Gajeel quickly nodded yes.

"Good. I'm out of here. Tell anyone what happened and I'll be back." Laxus said as he walked away, kicking down the door and disappearing in a flash of lightning. Gajeel growled in annoyance. How could he not tell anyone what happened? Both of them had noticeable wounds, Gajeel having the most. Plus he would be limping around for a while. How would he explain that? Maybe staying away from the guild for a while would be good. But he didn't want to run away with his tail between his legs. Hiding in his home would just make him look and feel worse. His pride was destroyed along with his dignity. And the worst of it all, is he actually fears Laxus more now. Gajeel Redfox doesn't fear people. People fear him! He's not weak, he's strong, dammit!

...But Laxus is stronger.

He knows it and can't deny it. But it doesn't stop him from hating the man. He could never beat Laxus, not on his own anyways. The only time he ever beat him was with Natsu. At least he knew Natsu couldn't beat Laxus either, not alone. But Natsu did beat Gajeel...so was Gajeel not only weaker than Laxus, but Natsu too?

"God dammit.." He growled, begging to hate himself now. He couldn't be that weak...right? He used to be an S-class mage, the strongest in Phantom Lord! But everything changed when he joined Fairy Tail. He lost his title of S-class, he lost to Natsu, he lost to Laxus multiple times now. It did a number to his ego and to his confidence. Maybe he should have never joined Fairy Tail...

"No, can't think like that.." He berated himself, knowing that he didn't still want to be in Phantom Lord, or anywhere else. He was in a better place now, despite how he currently felt. He had Levy now, and Pantherlily. He had an opportunity to get stronger. And oh, he planned to do just that.

"Maybe some time away from the guild wouldn't be so bad..."

* * *

If it were up to Laxus, he would have just went home. Cleaned up a bit, calmed down. But Makarov had given him strict orders to return directly back to the guild and he had already taken enough time. The guild Master would be pissed no doubt. It was blatantly obvious he had fought Gajeel, if the large scratch marks on his face weren't obvious enough the tears in his clothes and other various cuts and bruises were. He honestly wasn't expecting that much of a fight from Gajeel. He knew the man wasn't weak, not even close, but he was actually expecting Gajeel to just give up. After all, the man couldn't possibly have thought he would win, right?

But that wasn't important now. He needed to focus on what he would tell Gramps. It's not like he could lie, the evidence was clear as day. But knowing Makarov he would find someway to try getting himself and Gajeel to get along. The old man didn't like his brats not getting along. He allowed Natsu and Gray to argue and fight but that was different. Those two still worked well together and helped each other on missions. The relationship he had with Gajeel was different. When they fought it wasn't comical in any sense, it was violent. If they were on a mission Laxus wouldn't even think about helping Gajeel. In fact, they would never even be on a mission together.

With a sigh, Laxus made his way through the guild, ignoring the stares and whispers. He marched upstairs and entered Makarov's office, not surprised to see the man waiting for him in his chair. He didn't look surprised at all to see his grandson all banged up. Laxus plopped down and waited for Makarov to start chastising him.

"So, did you apologize?" The Master asked, resisting the urge to smirk when Laxus snorted at him.

"What do you think?" He asked in return. Makarov shook his head no and sighed. "Laxus, you need to control yourself. You can't just beat the living daylights out of a guild member just because he supposedly poses a threat to you."

"Don't start on that again. I told you this has nothing to do with my dragon instincts, I just don't like that guy. If I get a chance to fight him I will."

"Gajeel has made up for his past crimes against us. Everyone else has forgiven him, or at least doesn't completely hate him anymore. You're the only one who still can't stand him and you know I can't just let that go. If you're ever going to become a guild Master you have to learn to be mature and move on. Forgive people." Makarov said, knowing his grandson was hardly listening.

"Whatever. I'll never get along with him and there's nothing anyone can do about it." Laxus growled and stormed out of the office. Makarov sighed again and stared at the spot Laxus had just been. He knew he was right, and that there was more to this than Laxus was willing to admit. And eventually it would come to a head, something would happen. All he needed to do was figure out how, and to make sure it ended well.

He needed a plan, and already had a pretty good one brewing in his head.

* * *

**Well, first chapters done. Took forever to write though. It's going to be a bit slow, but eventually these two will start to realize some things. I'm also terrible at prolonging things so you might not have to wait long for some romance! Until then, remember to review! I know this is a bit of an odd pairing but give them a chance. Hopefully by the end of this you'll see why I think they're so adorable.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Anyone ever heard of Duendes? They're so scary O.O If I ever saw one of those little things I'd just die right there. If you don't know what they are..look up proof of duendes on youtube. Just thinking about it...*shivers***

**That has nothing to do with this chapter, but I had to get it out. I've been terrified for a full 24 hours now, and it might effect my writing. Ah...Family Guy...make me feel better!**

**I own nothing!**

* * *

It had been three days since Laxus confronted Gajeel, and the raven hadn't appeared since. Nobody had seen hide nor hair of the man. Not even Pantherlily who had searched everywhere. Makarov was angry, of course, and had sent Laxus out several times to find him. Laxus would always just go to a restaurant for a few hours and then return to the guild, saying he hadn't found anything. He honestly didn't care where Gajeel was. If the iron dragon slayer wanted to go hide after getting beat, then so be it. It only made him look more like a coward.

Natsu kept complaining that someone better find him soon, because he wanted to fight Gajeel. Levy was a worried mess. Pantherlily kept to himself and most of the time stayed home, probably waiting for Gajeel. Lucy had voiced her concerns several times, along with Wendy. Laxus couldn't imagine why they cared. Gajeel never did anything around here anyways, he didn't talk to anyone or offer any excitement. All he did was sit around and glare at people and then maybe join a fight. And irritate Laxus of course. He didn't even have to do anything either, he just simply irritated him. His appearance screamed defiance, his stance was too nonchalant, like he didn't care about anything.

Laxus just...didn't like him.

Gajeel acted stronger than he really was. He acted like he was so tough but Laxus knew better. The fact that he had the nerve to stand up to him yesterday still irked Laxus. After all, he was stronger than anyone. He was even getting to the point where he could beat Gildarts if he wanted to. Someone like Gajeel didn't stand a chance. The fact that he hadn't shown up in three days only proved that point. Or at least, that's what Laxus thought, until he suddenly caught a whiff of iron and the guild doors opened. He glared as Gajeel walked in, those red eyes looking confident as always. Someone like Gajeel shouldn't be confident, not after losing. Laxus was pleased, however, to see the man limp slightly.

"Oh! Gajeel, where have you been?" Levy was quick to jump up and run over to him, stopping when she saw all of the cuts, bruises and burn marks on his skin.

"Places, shrimp. Don't worry about it." Gajeel replied indifferently, continuing his walk to the normal table. Pantherlily, who had actually been at the guild today, quickly flew over to his companion.

"You're hurt. Just what the hell happened, Gajeel? Our house is a mess! Was it Laxus?" The Exceed asked, noticing how Gajeel glanced over at Laxus quickly. The blonde _had_ to be listening with his sensitive ears.

"I don't know what you're talking about, cat. Don't worry about the house, I'll fix it later." He muttered, walking past Pantherlily and sitting at the table. He glanced at Laxus again, relaxing ever so slightly when he realized he wasn't being watched. But he still had to watch what he said.

"Dammit Gajeel, you owe us an explanation! You can't just disappear for three days and then act like nothing happened!" Pantherlily said as he landed on the table, glaring at Gajeel who kept glancing at Laxus.

"I was training." He replied. Laxus tensed ever so slightly at hearing this.

"Training? But why?" Levy asked as she joined them, still looking worried.

"Because I can, that's why. Are we done playing 20 questions now? I'm not in the mood." Gajeel grumbled, looking away disinterestedly. Pantherlily and Levy shared a look before reluctantly dropping the subject. They already knew what happened anyways.

"Gajeel, fight me!" Natsu suddenly yelled, charging right at Gajeel who merely shot out his arm, turning it into a pole. Natsu landed with a thud as it hit his face.

"Not today, Salamander. Go fight stripper or something." Gajeel replied, going back to staring pointedly at the wall. Natsu stood and pouted slightly, looking around for someone else to fight. He grinned and ran at Laxus, yelling "Laxus, fight me!" But was once again struck down, this time by lightning.

"Not a chance in hell, Natsu." Laxus replied, glancing over at Gajeel who flinched at the sound of his lightning.

"Aww, you guys are no fun. Hmm..Lucy, fight me!"

"Wha— Natsu?!"

Laxus found that he couldn't keep his eyes off Gajeel, drowning out the sound of Lucy getting tackled by Natsu. Those red eyes stared right back at him, seeming confused yet interested at the same time. There was still just a hint of challenge coming from Gajeel but he mostly looked scared. Well, and angry of course. Laxus narrowed his eyes, daring the man to say something. He almost grinned when Gajeel looked away.

Then, just as the guild was about to erupt in another fight, the Master came out from his office and stood on the upstairs railing.

"Listen up, brats!" He yelled, earning the entire guilds attention. "A new job just came in and I'm picking only the strongest mages to go. It's very important and needs to be taken seriously. So listen for your names!" He continued. The prospect of going on an important and dangerous job almost made Natsu have a seizure from being so excited.

"Ordinarily I would only send out S-class mages, but since half of my strongest people aren't S-class, I don't have a choice. So, Laxus and Erza will obviously be going. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy too. Juvia and Gajeel as well. And, for medical purposes, Wendy will be going too. You all better protect her, hear me? Protect each other or you _will_ die."

"What about Gildarts Gramps? I wanna see him fight!" Natsu yelled from the bar, making Laxus grunt in annoyance.

"Gildarts is out on another long mission I'm afraid. Even if he was here I don't think I would send him. I need someone here to protect the guild, which is why I'm not sending Mirajane either. Now, all of you cram into my office! I'll tell you the details." Makarov yelled as he walked back into the room, the others soon following. As Gajeel passed Laxus, everyone grew weary again. The two glared at each other and for a second it seemed like they might fight, but to everyone's shock Gajeel lowered his head and kept walking.

"I hope he'll be okay." Levy said with a pout, wishing she could go. But she was mostly brains, not muscle.

"I'll watch out for him. Somethings up with those two and if what the master said was right, we might have a big problem on our hands. I mean, four dragon slayers are going. I'm not worried about Wendy so much, but the other three are bound to fight." Pantherlily responded as he opened his wings to follow Gajeel.

"Maybe they'll get along? He did say eventually they get closer." She said, sounding only a little hopeful. In reality the odds of them getting along were slim to none.

"After a blood bath, yeah. Laxus and Gajeel already fought, but something tells me it's not over. Their pride won't let it end that easily."

"Gajeel's so stubborn, and Laxus isn't much better. This is bad...Master better know what he's doing."

"I think he's the one who planned this in the first place." Pantherlily said as he flew upstairs, knowing the old man was up to something. He flew in just in time to hear the beginning of Makarov's explanation and perched himself on Gajeel's shoulder.

"There's a dark guild that up until recently has been quiet, but now they're starting trouble. The council isn't sure where they came from or what they want, but we believe it's involved with Zeref. All you need to do is infiltrate their base and take them down." The Master explained. Several hands popped up in question, reminding him of a group of school children. "Erza, you first." He sighed.

"This sounds like an easy mission. Why are so many of us being sent out?" The redhead asked, causing a few hands to go down. Apparently she wasn't the only one thinking that.

"A very good question. We don't know much about the guild, meaning it could be full of powerful mages. The council sent somebody in to spy on them but that person never came back. Since the council seems nervous, I think it's safe to say this is serious." He answered, going to the next person. "Natsu?"

"Where is this place? Close enough to walk?" He asked hopefully, obviously not wanting to go on a train.

"Another good question. It's a little to the east of Clover Town, very easy to get to. So no, it's not close enough to walk Natsu." He replied, watching as Natsu turned slightly green. He then went to the next person. "Gray?"

"What's the name of the guild?" The ice mage asked, pushing an already sick Natsu away.

"It's name is Crimson Fang. It could be a small guild with few members, or a guild rivaling our size. We really know nothing about them since they're so new." He then went to the last person, who he really wasn't expecting a question from. "...Gajeel?"

"What's the reward." It was more of a statement, but it was also something everyone was thinking but didn't want to ask, since it would look like they didn't care about helping people and only wanted money. Leave it to Gajeel to ask a question like that.

"Yes, well, the reward is 100,000 jewel for each of you and a free stay at one of the spa houses in Hosenka Town." He answered, and sighed in relief when there was no more questions. Until Lucy raised her hand that is. "Yes Lucy?"

"When do we leave? And how long is this supposed to take?" The blonde asked, wanting to just skip to the spa part already.

"Oh, right. You leave in an hour." He said, waiting for everyone to calm down before continuing. "You'll stay in a hotel tonight and get started tomorrow. And it will take as long as you need it to. Now, hurry up and scram so you won't be late!" He finished with a shout, watching everyone scramble to the door and then run for their lives. An hour wasn't much time to pack and get to the station after all.

"This better work. Finding that job was nearly impossible." He grumbled to himself. With any luck, the next time he saw Laxus and Gajeel they would be on better terms.

* * *

An hour later everyone arrived at the train station, most looking out of breath from hurrying so much. They bought their tickets last minute and were quickly ushered on the train, hustling to put their bags on the shelves above them and find seats. Luckily the train was mostly empty so everyone could sit together. Each booth sat four people, so they would only need two booths. Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Juvia piled into one, Happy sitting on Lucy's lap. Erza, Wendy, Gajeel and Laxus sitting in the other one with Carla and Pantherlily sitting on their respective owners laps. Laxus immediately put on his sound pods and stared out the window boredly, trying to ignore his motion sickness. Wendy sat next to him and swung her legs while talking to Carla, while Erza sat with her knees on the seat so she could turn around and talk with Lucy while also keeping an eye on Natsu and Gray. Gajeel stared blankly at the scenery outside as it zoomed past them, wishing he had a distraction from his motion sickness. He could hear Natsu gagging behind him and had to resist the urge to do the same.

"Feeling okay?" Pantherlily asked, smirking when Gajeel glared at him.

"Just peachy, thanks for asking." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"You get motion sickness too, don't you? Just like Natsu and the other two dragon slayers from Sabertooth." Wendy asked, not feeling sick in the slightest.

"Tch, I'm not like those idiots. I can control myself." He replied, gritting his teeth as his stomach churned in protest.

"Then why do you look a little green?" Pantherlily asked, ducking when Gajeel swatted at him.

"Shut it, damn cat, or I'll puke all over you."

"You know Gajeel, it's okay to admit you don't feel good. Every dragon slayer is effected by transportation. Well, I'm not, but I think I'm just too young still. Even Laxus gets sick, he just doesn't show it." She said, the blonde man not hearing her. Gajeel couldn't help but smirk at that.

"I can control it better. Motion sickness is like nothing to me."

"Really? Because Laxus looks completely normal. You on the other hand look like you're going to turn into Natsu any second." Pantherlily pointed out, just in time for Gajeel to turn a darker shade of green and stick his head out of the window before he could form a response.

Laxus smirked, not willing to admit that he heard everything.

"Ha, Gajeel threw up! What a los— urrgh!" Natsu paused in his own puking to laugh, only to throw up even more. Lucy grimaced and scooted away, only to jump back as Erza's fist suddenly connected with Natsu's stomach. The fire dragon slayer fell unconscious into her lap instantly. She then spun around and sat normally, giving Gajeel a look before making a fist again.

"W-wait, no, don't—" Gajeel started to protest but was quickly knocked unconscious, falling into Erza's lap. Both Laxus and Wendy stared incredulously at her.

"It's the only way." She shrugged, enjoying the ride now that she didn't have to hear gagging. They still had a few hours before arriving in Clover Town after all.

"...Poor Gajeel-kun..." Juvia muttered a few minutes later.

* * *

It was around nine when the train pulled in to Clover Town. Erza was quick to gather all of their luggage and carry it all while also finding a hotel. They found one that had enough rooms eventually, but to save money they had to share rooms. At first Erza wanted all girls in one room and all boys in the other, but Juvia began crying, saying she wanted to be with her 'Gray-sama.' Knowing the water mage wouldn't let it go she allowed it, but then Natsu said if they were picking rooms then he wanted Lucy's. To be fair, she allowed that too. Each room had two queen sized beds, so that left Erza to room with Wendy, Gajeel and Laxus. Needless to say, this caused a few problems.

"I'm not sharing a bed with him." Laxus growled, glaring at Gajeel vehemently. "I ain't sharing with him either." Gajeel added, clenching his fists. Erza sighed, wondering why she didn't see this coming.

"Alright, then one of you can sleep with me and the other can share with Wendy." She suggested, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as Laxus and Gajeel both blushed slightly and looked away.

"I'm not sharing with you either!" They both yelled, crossing their arms. Erza then eyed the couch and this time she did roll her eyes.

"Fine. Three of us get a bed and someone gets the couch. I'm sharing with Wendy, so one of you gets to have a bed. If you can't decide on it peacefully, then I'll do it for you." She threatened, watching as they glared at each other.

"If anyone should get the couch, it's you." Laxus said with a sneer, angered that Gajeel still seemed so defiant.

"Why me? I say you get the couch." Gajeel replied, narrowing his eyes at Laxus. It was like he couldn't shut up, just like the other day. This was a battle for territory and he intended on winning. His body still hurt like hell and the couch would make it worse.

"Who cares what you say? I'm the boss and I say you sleep on the couch."

"Who said you're the boss?"

"Me, when I kicked your ass three days ago. I'll gladly do it again too."

"You stupid fucking—"

"THAT'S IT! Both of you sleep on the couch, I'll take my own bed!" Erza yelled, causing both men to jump at the sudden volume of her voice.

"Fuck no! I'll sleep on the damn couch since this asshole can't handle it." Gajeel growled, throwing his bag onto said couch angrily.

"Watch it Redfox. Say one more thing and I _will_ do something." Laxus growled, his hands sparking ominously. Erza half expected him to say something and was ready to beat both of them up, but was shocked when Gajeel eyed the sparks and then quietly began digging through his luggage for a blanket and pillow. Laxus smirked and happily went to his bed, throwing his fur lined coat on it as he did. Erza sighed and requiped into pajamas, deciding she needed sleep. Whatever was going on between Gajeel and Laxus could be dealt with tomorrow.

"I wonder what's going on in there." Lucy murmured as she heard yelling from Erza's room. Natsu launched himself at the bed and landed face first, causing Gray to nearly fall out.

"Gajeel's just fighting with Laxus again, no big deal." The fire mage replied.

"Those two seem to really hate each other. Maybe what Master said is true?"

"It is true. They just need more time than usual since Gajeel's so stubborn. I mean, I'm always trying to fight Laxus but I know he can kick my ass without even trying. I don't usually talk to Laxus like Gajeel does, so we don't have those problems. But Gajeel's stupid." Natsu said, surprising Lucy. Natsu doesn't normally admit when someone's stronger than him.

"So..eventually they'll be friends?" She asked, somehow finding that hard to picture.

"Maybe. They'll at least stop fighting and just stay away from each other, if nothing else. Every dragon slayer is different." The pink haired boy shrugged, getting comfortable in the bed. The yelling finally stopped so Lucy turned out the lights and also snuggled into her bed, jumping as she realized Juvia was glaring at her.

"Juvia will be watching love rival. Love rival is trying to get closer to Gray-sama, but Juvia won't let her. Gray-sama is Juvia's." The rain woman growled, causing Gray to squirm nervously in his bed.

"For the last time, I don't like Gray!"

* * *

**Yeah, I'm just gonna end it here. Another slow chapter, but things are going to start heating up soon. Anywho, leave a review. I'm going to sleep -.-**


	3. Chapter 3

It was extremely early the next morning when Erza woke everyone up. She claimed they needed to head out early if they wanted to get this done fast. Nobody was thrilled but went with it none the less. It's not like they would stand up to the mighty Titania anyways. So after packing everything again and shoveling down some breakfast at a diner, they began walking east until they reached the base of a mountain. From there they climbed up steep hills and had to take a few breaks, but eventually the guild came into view. They found coverage behind a few boulders and began thinking of a plan.

"We can't just waltz right in like we own the place. If this guild_ is_ full of powerful mages, we'll get taken down immediately. We need to be stealthy." Erza said, already knowing this would be hard. Fairy Tail wasn't known for it's stealth, it was known for charging in and making a mess.

"Well then we're screwed." Gray muttered, grunting as Natsu elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't be negative, you damn stripper! We're Fairy Tail, we can do anything!" Natsu objected, pumping his fist in the air enthusiastically.

"Natsu's right!" Lucy agreed, "We just need to be quiet. So I think splitting up would be helpful."

"Good idea Lucy. But since we're splitting up, we need to carefully pick which entrances we're each going in to. The front door is obviously off limits. Now, judging by the outside appearance, I'd say there's at least three floors. I think if we do go in the first floor it should be from the back. Me and Wendy will go that way since we're the most likely to stay quiet." Erza said, drawing out a map in the dirt with her finger.

"Natsu and Lucy can find a way to climb to the second floor and sneak in through one of the front windows. Gray and Juvia can do the same, but you guys should hit the back way instead to cover more ground. That leaves Laxus and Gajeel to the third floor. I trust that all of you will behave and most importantly stay quiet. If you encounter anyone defeat them quickly so nobody else gets alerted, and if you come across a stronger mage, give it everything you've got. Me and Wendy are going to see if there's a basement first and look for any signs of something related to Zeref. So Natsu and Lucy, if you get the chance, go down to the first floor."

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered, looking just as excited as Natsu.

"Alright then, good luck everybody. We'll meet up at some point I'm sure. Now let's get started, and try not to get caught sneaking in." She said, and with that they broke off into groups of two and went to either the sides or back of the guild, avoiding the front. Happy transported Natsu to the second floor and then Lucy, and the two quickly found a window to climb through. Gray created an ice ladder and used that to get to the second floor, going in the window farthest from Natsu and Lucy's. Juvia was quick to follow. Erza went around back and ducked as someone passed by, waiting until they were gone to break through the window. Her and Wendy quickly began looking for a downstairs.

Around back, Gajeel glared at the very high up third floor, where there was only one window. Whatever was up there had to be important. He couldn't possibly ask Pantherlily to fly both him and Laxus up there, and he didn't want to help Laxus anyways. But the blonde seemed to already have a plan. In a flash of lightning, the man was gone, now standing on the third floor ledge. Gajeel growled in annoyance and grabbed onto Pantherlily, stretching out his other arm until he could reach a pole standing on the very tip of the building, which had the guilds flag on it. Once he had a firm grip, he retracted his arm, shrinking the metal limb until it was back to normal. He landed on his feet next to Laxus feeling accomplished.

"Oh, yeah, a huge flash of lightning won't look obvious at all." Gajeel said to the blonde, smirking as Laxus growled at him.

"Shut up. Don't think I won't kick you off this building." He said as he peered through one of the windows. The room looked like some kind of office, but it was empty. "Oi, Redfox, you see anything? It smells kinda weird but I think it's empty."

"Let me see." Gajeel walked closer and looked in, noticing how it did smell kind of weird. But even with his advanced hearing he couldn't hear anything. "Hmm...I think it's empty." He finally said, not noticing Laxus smirk and reach for his head. In one quick motion, Laxus gripped the back of Gajeel's skull and slammed his head into the window, completely shattering it. He then hopped into the building with a laugh, dodging the sudden pole that was aimed for his head.

"Get in here already. We might find some useful stuff in here." The lightning mage said, looking around the dark room. Gajeel growled and stepped through the window, gingerly rubbing his forehead which had a small cut on it. He reeled back slightly as the strange scent from earlier hit his nose, the smell being stronger now.

"The hell is that? It smells like shit." He hissed while covering his nose. Laxus sneered and did the same, his eyes darting around the room for a source.

"I don't know. There's nothing in here so I don't get why it would smell." Laxus said, turning around to face the raven. His blue eyes widened when a pitch black serpent lowered itself from the ceiling right behind Gajeel, who remained oblivious. There was a flash of lightning and then the snake fell to the floor in a singed heap, while Gajeel unceremoniously fell to the floor in surprise.

"What the fuck was that for?!" He yelled, turning his head when Laxus pointed behind him. He quickly jumped up and moved away when the snake twitched. "Where did that come from?" He asked, simultaneously looking up at the ceiling. Hundreds of the same looking snakes slithered around, all of them gathered into a ball. Some were smaller than others, and a few were frighteningly large.

In the blink of an eye, one of the snakes launched itself at Gajeel, it's red eyes glowing malevolently.

* * *

On the second floor, Lucy walked slowly and carefully behind Natsu, a hand on her keys just in case something popped out. She was thankful Natsu had such amazing hearing and smell. Whenever someone was close, they knew in advance and could quickly take out whoever it was before they even knew what happened. The place was actually pretty big, yet there weren't that many people around. Lucy briefly wondered if they were all downstairs, and then thought of Wendy and Erza.

"I hope everyone's okay.." She whispered, jumping as Natsu punched someone square in the face, knocking them unconscious.

"I'm sure they are. Erza won't let anything happen, and Gajeel and Laxus can handle themselves just fine. I just want to find an S-class mage already!" He said, high fiving Happy when the cat eagerly agreed with him. Lucy sighed and gripped her keys tighter, feeling like Natsu might get his wish soon enough.

"We're looking for signs of Zeref, not S-class mages!" She reminded him, squeaking as Natsu suddenly stopped and she ran into his back. "What's the big idea?!" She yelled and quickly stepped away from him.

"We're being followed." Was all he said, turning around abruptly. Lucy did the same but didn't see anything.

"Are they far?" She asked, noticing how his hands were lit up and subconsciously gulped.

"It's just one, and they're right in front of us." The salmon haired teen replied, grinning with the promise of a good fight. He knew Lucy couldn't see it, but to him it was crystal clear. A clear liquid covered the floor and formed a human looking man, who carried a massive sword. If it wasn't for his good eyesight the man would be invisible.

"Guess I found my S-class mage!"

* * *

On the opposite side of the second floor, Gray walked at a normal pace, not caring if someone passed by. Juvia would attack them before he could even blink anyways, as she has already proven to him. For a building this size he was expecting more people, but assumed they were all downstairs.

"I feel sorry for whoever finds Erza. Everyone must be on the first floor." He said, watching as another person was struck by water.

"Juvia agrees. It is strange that there aren't many people though." The rain woman replied, her eyes flicking every which way for attackers.

"Yeah, but maybe this is a weak guild after all. They did make this building a little too big for it to have only a few members though. As long as we keep on our toes we'll be fine." The ice mage said, not noticing the clear fluid forming behind them. Juvia didn't see it either, and since they weren't Natsu, they couldn't hear or smell it.

"Juvia thinks this is all planned. We did this in Phantom Lord too. Whenever a guild would come attack us, we would hide our S-class mages on the other floors and leave most of the weak ones either downstairs or walking around throughout the building. That way the people invading us don't suspect where the stronger ones are." Juvia explained, taking out another random person.

"Well, if we find an S-class mage we'll just fight. That's all we can really— oof!" Gray grunted as he was suddenly pushed to the side by what felt like water, but there was nothing there.

"What the heck Juvia!" He turned to the woman, only to find her staring at him in fright.

"T-that wasn't me, Gray-sama." She said, looking around frantically. For a split second she had seen something move and then Gray suddenly hit the wall, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"Then what the hell was that?" He asked, getting in the usual ice make position. He glanced around and saw a glimpse of something by Juvia and quickly froze it, eyes widening as his ice took form into a person. It looked like a girl holding a really big sword.

"Who are you?!" Juvia yelled, jumping away from the girl. Gray's eyes widened more as she started moving towards them despite being covered in ice.

"I have no name. You are intruders and have been ordered to die." She said in a monotone voice, swinging her sword at Gray. Juvia used her water to cut through the sword, the piece of ice falling to the floor. A string of clear liquid connected the two pieces, unknown to Gray and Juvia, and slowly reattached the weapon.

"What are you? How are you doing that?" Gray yelled, creating his own sword out of ice.

"I owe you no explanations. Now die." She replied, swinging her sword once again.

The sound of shattering ice filled the halls.

* * *

As it would turn out, the first floor was crawling with people. Erza was hiding in a storage closet in order to remain hidden with Wendy, and had almost gotten caught three times already. There were stairs not too far from them that led down but it would be impossible to get there without being seen. She could either wait for Natsu and Lucy to distract them or just make a run for it. She didn't really like being cramped in a closet and figured she should just do it Fairy Tail style.

"Stay close to me Wendy. This is going to get rough." She warned the young dragon slayer before kicking down the door and charging out, requiping into her Heavens Wheel armor. All at once the guild members charged at her, letting out battle cries as they prepared to use magic. Erza summoned all of her swords and fired them while Wendy used her sky dragons roar to keep them away. All of the mages seemed to be weak and went down rather easily. Erza found this suspicious.

"Somethings not right. Why would all of these people be gathered down here and not even put up much of a fight? They're either really this weak, or they're planning something."

"Maybe they're trying to keep us away from the basement?" Wendy said, watching as the last person fell.

"Let's go find out why they would do that." She said, sprinting towards the stairs with Wendy behind her. As they reached the last step, a blast of red hit the wall, barely missing Erza's head. Wendy took cover under the stairs while Erza launched into battle. The man didn't look threatening, at least not too much. He did have odd looking purple eyes with slitted pupils and a dark purple scar running down his face in a diagonal line. His hair was short and black, almost covering his left eye. But other than that he looked normal.

"Who are you?" Erza asked, blocking with her sword as another red blast came at her. She was surprised when her sword began melting and quickly requiped another one.

"My name doesn't matter. You are from Fairy Tail I assume, and have come to destroy our guild. May I ask why?" The man asked, looking coldly at Erza.

"How do you know that? And the reason should be obvious, we want to know if you have any affiliations with Zeref."

"Fairy Tail has it's reputations. We know how many dark guilds you've taken down and figured you would come for us next. And as for Zeref, we worship him, but have nothing that would be of value to you, such as the book of Zeref." He explained before firing at Erza again, dissolving another one of her swords.

"You can do that as much as you like, I'll just keep getting more." She said, taking out yet another sword.

"Fine by me. I will win in the end regardless of what you do."

"I just have one question before we get serious. Are you the guild master?" The redhead asked, watching as the man smirked.

"I'll let you figure that out."

* * *

Gajeel had narrowly dodged the snake, extending an iron arm and slamming the serpent into the wall, effectively crushing it. But more and more kept falling to the ground or launched themselves from the sphere on the ceiling. Laxus had electrocuted most of them, but it seemed like the more they killed, even more came at them. Laxus had tried firing his magic at the sphere itself, but there were simply too many. A group of them would fall to the floor in a burnt crisp but the sphere wouldn't even diminish. Gajeel wondered if the snakes were being regenerated somehow, and also what they were hiding underneath them.

He let his scales come out for protection since it was getting harder to dodge. Laxus had a barrier of electricity around him so if any snakes did get close they would just die. Using an iron dragons roar, he took out another section of the sphere, frowning as it just grew back. They weren't getting anywhere.

"At the same time!" Laxus said, preparing to use his own roar. Gajeel nodded and watched as their combined attacks hit the sphere dead on, almost all of the snakes falling to the floor. It was then revealed what was under that ball of serpents. A mere mage hung upside down, his feet planted on the ceiling. He appeared to be sleeping, and Gajeel only caught a glimpse of him before the snakes regenerated and covered him up again. He had black hair and a red scar going down his face.

"The fuck was that?" Laxus asked in confusion. Why would a mage be hanging from a ceiling sleeping? And how could he regenerate snakes like that?

"I don't know but we need a change of plans. Fighting these damn snakes isn't doing anything." Gajeel replied, punching a snake that tried biting him.

"Yeah, I know. I'll take out a group of them again and I want you to try getting to that guy. Try pulling him down or something."

"Right." Gajeel nodded, waiting for another bunch of snakes to fall to the floor before stretching out his arms and grabbing the man by his upper arms. He was about to start pulling when the mans hands suddenly shot out and gripped Gajeel's, his eyes snapping open to reveal crimson and slitted pupils. The snakes started reforming and slithered down Gajeel's arms.

"Shit!" Gajeel cursed, trying to shake off the snakes and also yank his arms back. Laxus sent lightning at the man until he finally let Gajeel go, smirking as the snakes covered his face yet again. Gajeel fell to the floor and yelped as one snake crawled up to his shoulder, it's teeth turning an odd shade of red and piercing through his metal skin. He ripped it off with a pained grunt, gripping his now bleeding shoulder.

"How the fuck did it bite you?! Shit, we need to get out of here!" Laxus yelled, grabbing Gajeel by the arm and dragging him out of the room. He cursed more as the snakes chased them, moving surprisingly fast. Gajeel ran behind him but soon started slowing down, his vision blurring. The smell from before was stronger and he realized it was poison.

"Fuck..." He groaned, feeling his chest tighten and his throat start to close.

"Don't you fucking give up on me Redfox! We can't stop anywhere!" Laxus yelled, grabbing Gajeel again so he could continue dragging him. They ran downstairs and the first thing he saw was a closed door. He quickly opened the door and threw Gajeel onto the floor before slamming the door shut. He then turned to Gajeel and knelt down beside him, examining the wound. Gajeel's scales had gone away so it was easier to see. Two small holes were on the junction between his neck and shoulder, still bleeding slightly.

"Goddammit...those fuckers were poisonous." He said to himself, noticing how pale Gajeel had gotten. A sheen of sweat covered his body and he was breathing heavily.

"B-behind...y-you..." Gajeel managed to say, pointing to the snakes that had squeezed under the door.

"Shit! You can't run, can you?" He asked, cursing again when Gajeel weakly shook his head no. The man looked like he would lose consciousness any second.

"I'll have to carry you then. We need to find the others quickly." He said, scooping Gajeel up in his arms. Gajeel was too weak to even protest being carried like this which worried Laxus more. "Get ready, this is probably going to suck." He warned before kicking down the door, his body covered in electricity so nothing would hurt him. Of course, this meant Gajeel was also covered in it, which hurt a lot.

Just as Laxus began running, the floor and walls began shaking and the roof started caving in.

* * *

Natsu had actually found the mans weakness pretty fast. Well, it wasn't really a weakness, but it did help Natsu a lot. He had used his fire on the man a while ago and found that it stuck to him, making it easier to see him. From there on out the fight ended pretty quickly. He had met up with Gray halfway through, and seeing that the girl was made of ice, he just used his flames on her. Gray then used his ice on the man and the fight was over. They heard some rumbling from downstairs and realized it was Erza. Rushing to the basement, they found Erza nearly defeated. With all of them fighting at once the building was bound to get destroyed at some point. Before the first floor could cave in on them they quickly made a run for it. By the time they made it outside the rest of the building was already crumbling down.

"What about Laxus and Gajeel?!" Natsu asked frantically, watching as the third floor collapsed.

Meanwhile on the second floor, Laxus ran as fast as he could to avoid falling debris and the collapsing floor. He found another flight of stairs and sprinted down, almost getting hit by a chunk of floor. The front doors were in clear sight but too much debris had fallen in front of it. Thinking quickly Laxus used his lightning dragons roar to blow away any more obstacles and burst through the door just as the rest of the building collapsed, leaving a giant cloud of dust.

"What happened to Gajeel?!" Natsu asked. Laxus quickly set him down, a stab of panic going through him when Gajeel didn't move. He put his ear against his chest and then panicked more when he barely heard a heart beat.

"Wendy, do you have enough energy to heal him?" He asked, ripping off Gajeel's shirt for better access to the area.

"I...I can try, but what happened?" The girl asked, knowing she didn't have much strength left.

"He was bit by a poisonous snake. It's been in his system for at least twenty minutes." The blonde replied, his ears picking up on a rumbling sound from the debris. Natsu heard it too, his fists erupting in flames.

"I'll try to heal him." The blue haired girl replied, kneeling down and putting her hands over the wound. Pantherlily and Carla watched with concern, spinning around when something shot out of the rubble. A giant red snake emerged, half of it's body being human. The upper half was the man from the third floor.

"You bastard! You're the one who did this to him!" Laxus growled, clenching his fists in anger.

"He looks just like the other guy!" Natsu commented, glaring at the crimson beast.

"Laxus..I...I can't get all of it out. I've used too much energy. I'm sorry..." Wendy said, her eyes watering. Laxus swore and picked Gajeel up again.

"Let's get away from here. Natsu, take care of this." Laxus said. He led Wendy and the two exceed away, laying Gajeel down a good distance away from the fight.

"How can we help him? If we leave the poison won't he die?" Pantherlily asked, feeling worried for his partner.

"We're lucky he hasn't died already. The only way to get the poison out...is to suck it out ourselves." Wendy said with a frown. Laxus grimaced, knowing he didn't have a choice.

"I'll do it." He said, leaning closer to the area. Wendy was surprised by this, as were Carla and Pantherlily.

"Thank you, Laxus. Just don't swallow any of it. When you can't taste it anymore you can stop." She instructed, watching as Laxus sighed and placed his mouth over the wounds before sucking. The bitter taste of poison filled his mouth, making him wince and quickly spit it out. He kept alternating between sucking and spitting, until all he could taste was Gajeel's blood. With one final spit, he deemed the job done, eyes going over the area again which was now a dark purple color. Gajeel did look much better now though.

"Good job Laxus. He should wake up soon." Wendy said with a smile. Just then a disheveled Erza limped over, looking exhausted.

"Laxus, they need your help." She said breathlessly. Laxus glared at the giant snake and nodded, quickly running over to the beast and attacking it.

"Did you save Gajeel, Wendy?" The redhead asked, taking a seat next to the young dragon slayer. At that moment, Gajeel started regaining his consciousness, but didn't want to open his eyes.

"Actually, Laxus did. He sucked out all of the poison. I honestly wasn't expecting him to do that, but he seemed really worried about Gajeel. I think what Master said is starting to happen. Laxus wants to protect Gajeel now that he's shown his dominance. He's even over there protecting Natsu now." She explained, watching as Laxus blocked the snake from hitting Natsu, who looked pretty tired.

"I never thought I'd see the day where Laxus protected people like this. He's really changed." Erza said with a smile, watching Laxus bring out his scales and unleash his full power onto the snake, which was enough to defeat it.

"I'm glad. You know, the Master told us if we didn't help each other we would die. I think he knew exactly what would happen."

"You're right. He did this mostly for Gajeel and Laxus, but it also applied to us too. We all helped each other today and completed this mission. And now we get to go relax at Hosenka Town." The redhead agreed, sighing as she imagined herself in a relaxing spa.

"I can't wait! But first we have to somehow get everyone back to the train station..." Wendy said, sweat dropping as everyone limped their way towards them.

"Ah...right...that might be hard."

* * *

**Finally got this done! It took me all day to write and at some point I just said fuck it, these people don't need names! I'm too lazy to think of new names! And writing fight scenes really isn't my thing either which is why this was rushed. But the next chapter will be even better, because things are going to get romantic! Until then, review**!


	4. Chapter 4

Getting on the train had been a huge hassle. With everyone being injured it took hours to get back to Clover Town. But after collecting their luggage from the hotel and catching the next train to Hosenka, the team finally got some much needed sleep. Granted it only lasted an hour since Hosenka wasn't far from Clover Town, but still, it made a difference. It was very late when they arrived and they wondered if any hotels would still take them. But since this town thrived at night, they were eagerly welcomed to one of the finest hotels, and didn't even have to pay. The hotel only had rooms for two however, which made everyone split up again. Natsu and Lucy went into one, as did Gray and Juvia. Erza went with Wendy which once again left Gajeel and Laxus alone. But this time they didn't complain about it. It might have been because they were both so tired, or because Gajeel was still pretty out of it, or maybe because they finally settled their differences.

Despite it being late, the girls couldn't wait to hit the spa. Lucy sighed happily as she stepped into the pleasantly hot water, her aches and pains already slipping away. Letting her towel fall down she plopped into the pool and almost moaned at how amazing it felt. Looking around she realized it wasn't just her. Erza looked to be on cloud nine, Juvia had almost melted into water herself, and Wendy appeared to be on the verge of sleep, her head resting on Carla's. It was like they had died and gone to heaven.

"This feels amazing." She groaned, sinking deeper into the water.

"It really does. It's been so long since we've been here, I'd forgotten how amazing Hosenka's spas are." Erza agreed, tying her scarlet hair up in a bun.

"Juvia wonders if Gray-sama is enjoying his bath too. If only he could be here.." She trailed off, drooling as she imagined a naked Gray sitting next to her.

"Juvia! You can't possibly wish Gray was here, you're bathing!" Lucy said with a blush. It's not like she wanted Natsu to be here, that would be weird. Or at least that's what she told herself.

"Exactly. It would be romantic. Besides, Juvia always wants Gray-sama to be here." The rain woman replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. But since it was Juvia, it _was_ kind of obvious.

"I suppose it would be somewhat romantic. I wonder if the boys are enjoying themselves." Erza said, thinking of a certain blue haired man and wishing he was there.

"Get off, Natsu!" Gray growled as he shoved a sleepy Natsu away.

"Why aren't we sleeping?" Natsu groaned, wondering how he ended up in a spa when he was so tired.

"Because..well...I don't know, actually. Let's get out of here, I'm tired." Gray replied as he dragged Natsu out, handing the naked boy a towel while he just continued out completely naked. Natsu tiredly grabbed his clothes and wrapped the towel around his waist before leaving the spa. Laxus nudged the oddly quiet Gajeel to make sure the man was still alive, receiving a tired grunt in response.

"Oi, you ready to get out? You can't sleep in here you know." The blonde said, eyes widening when Gajeel merely looked at him and nodded. The raven had been oddly complacent since the whole dark guild thing and Laxus wasn't sure if it was because he was tired, or something else.

"Then let's go." He grabbed Gajeel's hand and helped the man out, averting his eyes as Gajeel pulled his pants back on. Laxus did the same and put Gajeel's arm around his shoulder so he could help him walk back to their room which was on the third floor. In the elevator Laxus noticed how Gajeel started leaning more on him, and accidentally caught a whiff of the mans hair. It smelled...oddly sweet. He then picked up on the mans deep breathing and realized Gajeel had fallen asleep.

"Oi, don't sleep on me idiot. Wait until we get to the room." He said, shaking the man slightly. All he got was a tired groan and a slight nod. "Che, you're really out if it, aren't you?" He asked as the elevator opened.

"Shut up.." Gajeel mumbled, his hand weakly punching Laxus in the chest. Laxus couldn't help but laugh at Gajeel's odd behavior. It was like the usual feisty Gajeel was gone, replaced with a quiet obedient one. Laxus couldn't help but enjoy it. He rather liked Gajeel like this and felt the overwhelming need to take care of him. The Masters words echoed in his mind and he scoffed lightly. He wouldn't turn out like that, not with Gajeel or anyone else. This was just a one time thing and then they would go back to hating each other. So what if he had felt horribly worried when Gajeel got bit? And so what if he had the urge to get Gajeel to safety and protect him? It didn't mean anything. He still didn't like him...right?

"Alright, in you go." Laxus said as he opened their door, watching as Gajeel slowly made his way to the bed on wobbly legs and collapsed face first on it. Not a second later he was out cold. Laxus shook his head and made his way into the bathroom to change, stopping abruptly as he passed the bed. The only bed. Meaning...

"Oh fuck no." He growled, looking around for a couch. He growled again when he didn't find one. Which meant he had to sleep with Gajeel. "Dammit..." He muttered, quickly changing before slipping into bed. He made sure to stay as far away from Gajeel as possible but when he tried to sleep he found that he couldn't. Gajeel wasn't situated right and wouldn't be able to sleep well.

"Oi, Redfox, get under the covers you idiot. You're not even on the pillow." He said, tugging the blanket to wake the man up. Gajeel's eyes slowly blinked open and regarded Laxus before slipping shut again. He crawled up a little more and slipped under the covers before going back to sleep. A pang of something unknown went through Laxus when those sleepy red eyes looked at him, and intensified when Gajeel actually did what he said. His behavior was really starting to get to Laxus and the man didn't know why. Well, technically he did, but didn't want to accept it.

In the end, he passed it off as lack of sleep and quickly joined Gajeel.

* * *

The next morning was an eventful one. Gajeel woke up feeling oddly warm and comfortable, and the scent of something citrusy yet spicy hit his nose. He rolled over and was about to go back to sleep when a sudden movement stopped him. Opening his eyes, he was met with a cloudy blue color, and realized why he felt so warm. Red eyes widened dramatically as he took in his position, pressed tightly against Laxus and wrapped in the mans arms. There was a tense moment of silence before the two shoved each other away and began swearing. Gajeel appeared to be back to his old self.

"What the FUCK was that?!" The iron dragon slayer yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Laxus. It didn't help at all that both men were shirtless.

"You tell me! You're the one who made himself comfortable just now!" Laxus also yelled, ignoring the blush on his face. He had actually woken up a few seconds before Gajeel and found the man wrapped in his arms. With Gajeel being so close Laxus had a chance to realize just how small he was and had gotten to smell his unique scent again. When Gajeel rolled over and very cutely— though he would NEVER admit that— snuggled into his chest, Laxus felt something flip in his stomach. Gajeel looked...oddly peaceful in his sleep. And having the slighter man so close like that after everything that happened felt somehow right.

"Then why were your arms around me?!" Gajeel yelled, ignoring the odd fluttering in his heart. His body still felt slightly warm from being so close to Laxus, and somewhere in his mind he knew it felt good being wrapped so protectively in those large arms. But knowing these things just made him even angrier and more confused.

"Um, guys, you're going to wake Erza up." Pantherlily said from the bed, having witnessed the whole thing. He found it highly amusing if not a little strange. But he didn't want to deal with Erza's wrath and neither did the other two, since they immediately stopped yelling.

"I'm taking a shower, try not to go molest me while I'm in there." Gajeel said, ducking out of the way before Laxus could grab him. He growled as the door shut and angrily threw some clothes on before going out for breakfast. Pantherlily shook his head, wondering if they knew what was happening. The fact that Laxus had even allowed the sleeping arrangements showed a lot about their relationship. The master would be thrilled to see them getting along better now. He had obviously planned this whole thing somehow anyways and knew they would get along. But even Pantherlily could tell this was different. They were getting along, yes, but something was still off. The air around them was different and he could smell it. He was an animal too after all.

The bathroom door opened again revealing a fully dressed and still aggravated Gajeel. He noticed Laxus wasn't there and sighed in relief. He also noticed Pantherlily giving him an amused look and growled, knowing the cat had seen everything and probably found it funny. He was aware that something was happening between them but didn't want to think about it. So Laxus had saved his life, big deal? And who cares if he had personally sucked out the poison, it didn't change anything. Laxus was still an asshole and Gajeel still didn't like him. That would never change no matter what his gut or anyone else told him.

"If you keep scowling like that you'll get wrinkles." Pantherlily said, laughing as Gajeel glared at him.

"Shut it cat. I ain't in the mood." He grumbled, looking out of the window and observing the town in all of it's glory. In his opinion it looked much better at night with all of the lights. During the day it looked kind of ugly.

"Is someone grumpy because he got cuddled by Laxus? You both looked pretty happy in your sleep." He commented, covering his ears when Gajeel swatted his head.

"I didn't get cuddled by that fucker and nobody enjoyed it. You're just going crazy." He replied, going quiet as the door opened and Laxus walked in with food. He gave Pantherlily one last glare, silently telling him to drop it.

"I passed by Erza on the way back up. She's making reservations for that bar downstairs, requesting a lot of sake. I think we should be scared." Laxus said, acting like the morning never happened.

"I think I heard Natsu talking about the last time the girls had sake. Yeah, we should be scared, but if it means free alcohol I'll definitely go." Gajeel said with a smirk. He hadn't been there when this happened, but apparently even Levy got drunk. He only wished he could've seen that.

"Guess I'll go too then. I could use a few bottles after everything." Laxus said, throwing a bag of food at Gajeel who quickly caught it. "I didn't know what to get, so I kind of got one of everything."

"One of everything? How the hell did you afford that?" Gajeel asked as he rummaged through the back, taking out a handful of silverware. "You took their forks and shit too?"

"I'm S-class, money isn't a problem. And you eat metal, so I figured if you didn't like the other food you could at least eat that." Laxus explained, ignoring the incredulous looks from Gajeel and Pantherlily. He knew he was being oddly nice but couldn't seem to care.

"Well...thanks, I guess." Gajeel said, the words feeling foreign on his tongue. Who would've thought he would ever thank Laxus? But, he knew this wasn't the only thing he needed thanking for. "And thanks for..you know...saving me. I heard what you did."

"Don't mention it.." Laxus muttered, pausing to think of what to say next. He wasn't expecting a thank you for anything, and wasn't aware Gajeel even knew what he did for him. "Does it hurt?" He decided to ask, mentally slapping himself. That was the best he could come up with?

"Uh..yeah, a little. It's nothing I can't handle." Gajeel shrugged, gingerly touching the bruised area. He found it hard to believe Laxus' mouth had been there and wasn't sure why it made him feel so weird inside.

"You sure? Last night you weren't handling yourself very well. I practically had to carry you all the way back up here and tuck you in." Laxus said in a mocking voice, smirking as Gajeel narrowed his eyes at him. The same eyes that had looked at him so sleepily last night and this morning. Laxus mentally slapped himself again.

"Shut up Sparky! I was still fucked up from being out for so long, that's all. I could've managed by myself." Gajeel yelled angrily as he munched on a spoon.

"Really? I think you would've just fallen asleep in the spa and died." Pantherlily said, laughing with Laxus as Gajeel turned slightly red.

"Fuck both of you!" He growled, standing to leave the room and go for a walk.

"Admit it metal head, you would've died without me. In fact, I think you owe me for saving your ass." Laxus said with a smirk, blocking the door.

"I don't owe you shit!" Gajeel growled at him, taking a step back to create some space. He was still a little weary about being near Laxus despite them being closer now.

"I think you do, and you can't back out of it now. Not that you could anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gajeel asked with a scowl.

"You're scared of me, and you'll do whatever I say, that's what it means." Laxus said with his own glare, not liking that Gajeel was being so defiant again. If he had to prove another point, he would.

"I'm not scared of you!" Gajeel yelled, biting back a yelp as he was suddenly pinned to the wall by his neck. Laxus' arm began sparking, slowly inching towards Gajeel's neck.

"Prove it. Fight back if you're not scared." Laxus said in a low voice, low enough for only Gajeel to hear. With that tone and the look in Laxus' eyes, Gajeel felt himself at a loss for words. It was almost like he was paralyzed. And this time, he actually did shut up. Just as the electricity was an inch from his neck, Gajeel sent Laxus a look that was almost pleading, _almost_ full of fear, and the blonde dropped him. Now that Gajeel was on his feet again and Laxus actually had to look down at him, he remembered just how small Gajeel was compared to him and felt a stab of guilt for hurting him.

"Good. Go rest while I get in the shower, and then we'll go look around. I know you still don't feel one hundred percent from yesterday." Laxus said as he disappeared into the bathroom.

To all of their surprise, Gajeel silently did as he was told.

* * *

Gajeel was right, the town really wasn't much to look at during the day. A lot of the shops were closed, and probably would be until night, which left them with nothing to do. They had met up with Natsu and Lucy who looked a little frazzled, and after parting ways with them, Gajeel and Laxus began laughing.

"You smelled it too?" Laxus asked with a knowing smirk. Gajeel nodded and barked out a laugh. "Those two finally fucked each other. It's about time Natsu hit that."

"How much you wanna bet the stripper and Juvia did the same thing?"

"Oh, definitely. Why else would they still be locked in their room? I wonder what Juvia did to make him finally give it to her."

"She might have just raped the poor guy." Laxus said, the two breaking out laughing again.

"You know, it's a little disturbing that you guys can tell when people have sex." Pantherlily said. Sure, he knew something was off with those two but he didn't have that good of a nose.

"Dragon senses, what can I say? It's not like we can control it. Besides, how else will I know when you and Carla do it? You sure as hell won't tell me." Gajeel said, smirking evilly at his now blushing cat.

"Me and Carla aren't like that. Besides, Happy likes her and he's my friend. I couldn't do that to him."

"Doesn't mean you don't want to." Gajeel said, his smirk vanishing at what his cat said next.

"Oh yeah? Kind of like how you don't want to with Levy?"

"I _don't_ want to. There's nothing between me and the shrimp." Gajeel said with a frown. This caught Laxus' attention.

"No? I always thought you two had a thing." He asked curiously, watching as Gajeel's frown turned into a scowl.

"We did at some point I guess, but things didn't work out. She's with speedy anyways."

"Jet? Hm, guess it's not that surprising. I don't think she's your type anyways. She's nice and all, good to look at, but that's it." Laxus said, trying to picture Gajeel with a girl. It was pretty hard for some reason.

"I don't have a type. If I see something I want, I go get it. And anyways, what about you? I always thought you and the drunk were together, or at least fucked." Gajeel asked, not wanting to talk about Levy anymore.

"You're partially right. We had a few flings a while back but she's just too young for me. Plus she's always drunk so it's not like we could be serious. But she's a freak in bed, that's all I can say." Laxus replied with a devious smirk. Gajeel snorted at that, trying to ignore the odd sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew Laxus got around, so why did it bother him?

"I figured as much. She tried getting in my pants once but...well, like I said, I thought she was yours."

"Not at all. If you want a piece, go for it, I won't stop you. Although I think her and that Bacchus guy have something going on."

"Eh..I'll pass. She's not on my list of people I'd fuck." Gajeel replied. Cana was beautiful and all but she just wasn't his type. Well, he didn't have a type, but even so he didn't want to get involved with a drunk.

"Oh? Then who is?" Pantherlily asked, a little surprised that Gajeel would turn Cana down. She was gorgeous, and usually that was enough for Gajeel.

"Well...now that I think of it, nobody. All the good chicks are taken now. Guess I've hit a dry spell." He muttered unhappily, causing Laxus to laugh.

"Sucks for you! I think you worry too much. So what if they're taken? That doesn't always matter to the chick, so it shouldn't matter to you either. And if the guy gets pissed, who cares? You can take pretty much anyone and win. Except me, of course." He added with a grin, surprising Gajeel a little. Laxus thought he was strong?

"Yeah yeah, don't flatter yourself." He muttered as they walked back into their hotel. All Gajeel wanted was to drink, especially after talking about his love life.

* * *

That night couldn't have come any faster for Gajeel. After making their way down stairs to the bar neither Gajeel nor Laxus were surprised to see the girls already drunk while Natsu and Gray caught up to them. Even Carla and Happy looked buzzed. With a snort of amusement Gajeel grabbed a bottle of sake and went to sit next to Natsu, Laxus soon joining him. They wasted no time catching up to an incoherent Erza and in a matter of minutes all of the sake was gone. Surprisingly, this amused the staff members instead of angering or scaring them. So they decided to spice things up and brought out an unknown substance which was wrapped in little white papers. At first Gajeel thought they were cigarettes, and apparently Gray did too since he was the first to grab one and light it.

When he inhaled however, his eyes shot open and he began coughing.

"Wh-what the hell is this?! It tastes awful!" He cried, chugging down a beer to get rid of the taste. As soon as the scent hit Gajeel's nose the man grinned.

"It's weed." He said matter-of-factly, watching as Gray's jaw dropped.

"W-weed?! So I'm gonna get high now?! Oh shit, this isn't good." Gray began panicking, having never smoked something like that before. Gajeel however calmly took it from his hand and lit it up again.

"What're you talking about? This is fucking great!" He said before inhaling deeply, holding it in before letting out a long puff of smoke. Said smoke went right into Natsu's face and the boy passed out from the smell. "Che, lightweight."

"I forgot marijuana was legal in this town. Is it good?" Laxus asked with curiosity, eyeing one of the little rolled up papers wearily.

"You tell me." Gajeel replied, taking the joint the blonde was eying and giving it to him. Laxus took the lighter and somewhat reluctantly lit the end, before taking an experimental hit. After a moment he exhaled and nodded with approval.

"That's some pretty good shit. No wonder ice boys scared, this will get you high with one hit." Laxus said, looking over at Gray who was twitching slightly.

"You...you two smoke?" Lucy asked, finally finding her voice after watching the odd display before her. She had never been exposed to something like weed and therefore wasn't sure what to think of it. Erza on the other hand looked a little angry that they were given drugs when she specifically asked for sake, but then again, she seemed a little curious.

"Back in Phantom we did all the time. It's been a while I guess." Gajeel said after taking another hit.

"I've tried it a few times but that's it. It's really not so bad." Laxus said, watching with amusement as the two girls shared a look.

"Should we...try it?" Lucy asked the scarlet mage, wondering if this was such a good idea. But she was also incredibly drunk and couldn't seem to care.

"We could just share one. Juvia, would you like some too?"

"Juvia is unsure. She used to do it occasionally with Gajeel-kun, but Gray-sama doesn't seem to like it. Should Juvia have some, Gray-sama?" The water mage asked, turning towards her beloved. Gray merely sat there and stared at the floor with red eyes. "Gray-sama?!" She yelled worriedly. Gray finally looked at her and blinked before grinning like an idiot.

"Juvia, you gotta try this. Let's share one too." The ice mage said, his words slurring slightly. Juvia almost turned into a puddle at hearing this but managed to keep it together.

"Where's Wendy and the Exceeds?" Lucy asked while holding the joint for Erza.

"Wendy fell asleep a while ago, and I think the cats are flying around here somewhere. I think Carla might be enjoying herself." Erza said, recalling the white cat flying around on Happy's back. Pantherlily hadn't looked too pleased.

"Oh, alright then. Well let's get this started." Lucy said enthusiastically, watching as Erza inhaled slowly. Just like Gray, she began coughing and quickly handed it to Lucy. The blonde studied it for a moment and then repeated the process, nearly suffocating in the end.

"Jeez, you guys suck at this." Gajeel laughed, smashing his now used up joint and taking another one.

"Sh-shut up! We don't do this stuff!" Lucy replied angrily, taking another large hit to prove she wasn't weak. The effect hit her immediately.

"Juvia, how come you don't cough? Is it because your throat is made of water?" Gray asked, causing Juvia to start giggling.

"Juvia thinks Gray-sama is very high. Juvia's throat isn't made of water! Maybe Gray-sama should take a break?" She suggested, watching as Gray smirked and took the joint from her.

"Naa, I can't stop now! I'm not high enough!" He replied happily, causing Juvia to start laughing.

"That's the spirit, stripper! You can never be high enough." Gajeel laughed, enjoying the feeling of being drunk and high. The room was spinning and he felt like he was sitting on a cloud, his entire body had gone numb which made it feel like he was floating. He couldn't tell if he was smiling or not but figured he looked cheesy as hell, and his eyes felt incredibly low.

"You're really high, aren't you?" Laxus asked, though he wasn't one to talk. His eyes had to be beyond red right now.

"You have no idea. All of that sake isn't helping though." Gajeel replied with a lazy grin that made Laxus want to laugh.

"I feel weird.." Lucy said, her eyes slowly flicking around. Gajeel had to laugh at how unbelievably high she looked.

"Me too. I feel like...we need to dance. Right now." The redhead replied, her eyes matching the color of her hair. The others bursted out laughing as the two began dancing to no music, Gray nearly falling over.

"Juvia is hungry." The bluenette suddenly said, turning serious. Gray popped up immediately with a serious face. "Me too. We need more food!" He said, attempting to stand. Due to the effects of alcohol he ended up falling flat on his face.

"Come on stripper, you can't be that sloppy already!" Gajeel said as he stood, albeit a little wobbly. Laxus looked up at him with curiosity. "Where are you going?"

"To get food, what else? I'm fucking starving."

"That's actually a good idea. I'll come with you." The blonde said and followed Gajeel to the bar where a woman stood, watching them with amusement. The two managed to sit on the bar stools and began ordering nearly everything on the menu.

"This is such a good idea." Laxus nearly groaned as he began shoveling food in his mouth, feeling as though he were on a different planet. It was hard to tell if he was actually talking or if he was imagining everything.

"I know, right? It's like, why don't we do this all the time?" Gajeel asked between mouthfuls.

"Because this shit isn't legal in Magnolia. It's hardly allowed anywhere. How did you manage to smoke so much back then?"

"We snuck it in of course. Jose didn't give a shit as long as we didn't get caught. I spent nearly all of my money on it, but damn. It's worth it. They should legalize this shit everywhere." Gajeel said, causing Laxus to start laughing. "We sound like such pot heads right now."

"We do! We really fucking do!" Gajeel also started laughing, the two completely unaware of the bartender watching them with amusement.

"We should probably check on the other idiots. It's oddly quiet over there." Laxus said as he stood and turned around. Gajeel followed and the two began laughing at what they saw. Gray had passed out and now lay next to Natsu, while Juvia calmly sat next to him and stared at the wall. Lucy and Erza had fallen asleep at some point and were in a pile next to Wendy, and the Exceeds had all curled up together and passed out.

"Fucking lightweights." Gajeel scoffed, collecting all of the remaining joints and beer bottles.

"Let's just go back to the room, it's boring down here." Laxus said and the two left the bar, taking the elevator upstairs which was extremely fun since they were crossfaded. Luckily no one else was in there to see them laughing like idiots. Eventually they stumbled out of the elevator and into their room, still laughing at nothing in particular. Gajeel popped the cap off a bottle with his teeth and began chugging that while Laxus lit up another joint. They switched at some point, Laxus needing something to calm his burning throat and Gajeel needing to be more high. Eventually though they were down to just one mere joint and had to share. Usually Gajeel would scoff at the idea of sharing but now he was too drunk to care.

"I'm so fucking gone." Laxus muttered, running a hand through spiky blonde hair. Gajeel barely managed to nod his head in agreement.

"Meee tooo." The raven replied, giving Laxus the now small joint before falling onto his back. Laxus finished off the little stub and smashed it against the floor to put out the still hot embers.

"Don't fall asleep yet idiot." Laxus said, noticing how Gajeel's eyes drooped.

"I'm tripping out too much to sleep." Gajeel said with a small laugh, his red eyes unfocused. Laxus found a drunk and high Gajeel to be very amusing, kind of like the overly tired Gajeel which would soon come back out.

"You really wanna trip out? Feel this." Laxus grinned as he sent light electric waves over Gajeel's body, making the younger man twitch slightly and start laughing.

"That feels fucking weird! Usually your lighting scares the shit out of me but this is fucking cool." Gajeel said, enjoying the way Laxus' power danced over his body and stimulated his nerves, making his skin prickle into goosebumps.

"Eh? My lightning scares you?" Laxus asked, surprised Gajeel would even admit that. Red eyes snapped up at Laxus, still not completely focused.

"My element is metal, yours is lightning. We don't really go together well. Besides, all your lightning has ever done is hurt like hell. I'm still not fully recovered from last time. And with all of the power you have, it's kind of hard not to be scared." Gajeel replied, sobering ever so slightly. Laxus didn't know what to say. The fact that Gajeel admitted to being scared, and even kind of admitted to being weaker than him, made Laxus feel warm inside. It felt...strange.

"I don't like hurting you, I hope you know that. It's just..."

"The whole dragon instincts thing?" Gajeel finished for him, knowing exactly what Laxus was talking about.

"Yeah. Wait, so you knew this whole time?"

"Of course I did. I know all about that shit since Metallicana taught me. I've always known you were stronger than me, but I can't just be the submissive one and stay quiet. It's not who I am. I'm actually surprised we can be in the same room like this, since we're both the same." Gajeel explained, feeling his high start to wear off. Now he really was tired.

"So then...since I beat you and all that shit..."

"I'm supposed to act all submissive around you and do whatever you say and let you protect me blah blah blah. Don't get your hopes up Sparky, it won't happen too often. Like I said, that's not me. I do acknowledge you as the dominant one but that doesn't mean I'll let you boss me around like I'm your bitch."

"So Gramps was right after all. Huh...but we're not gonna be like that. I sure as hell won't treat you like my kid or anything. I protected you in that guild because...well...I had to. But if you ever start acting like you're stronger than me, we'll have a problem."

"Whatever you say Sparky. Whatever you say..." Gajeel mumbled on the verge of passing out.

"Oi, you can't sleep on the floor. Get up metal head." Laxus said, nudging the sleepy Gajeel. Just like the other day Gajeel wordlessly let Laxus help him up, the two stumbling towards the bed. It was much harder now that they were intoxicated. Just as they were inches from the bed, Laxus lost his balance and ended up landing on top of Gajeel, the youngest looking confused as the world spun and suddenly he was face to face with Laxus. Their position was compromising to say the least. The blonde mage found himself lost in a sea of red and with his inhibitions already going crazy, he didn't even register their lips touching. With both of them so out of it, neither had the will power to stop. Gajeel found his eyelids droop as the kiss deepened, a hot tongue clashing with his own. When they finally broke for air, their hazy eyes met and it finally registered what happened. Their cheeks were tinted pink and their heart beats were off the charts, and despite knowing how wrong and completely random it was, they couldn't move away.

That's when their sensitive ears picked up on footsteps just behind the door.

* * *

**Eep, they kissed! I figured the only way these two would ever do this, is if they were completely drunk/high. And of course I have to throw in that smoking is bad, along with drinking, and I'm not telling any of you to do it. I wrote it in here for the sake of Laxeel and my own personal enjoyment, as I find it funny. Don't go out and recklessly smoke weed/drink alcohol. Weed is illegal unless it's for medical use, and alcohol is legal only if you're 21. I would never tell you guys to do this stuff. Now that I've made that clear, I can stop typing now and go eat! Remember to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

For a split second, everything froze as the door clicked open. Then in a flurry of movement Laxus was across the room, leaving a stunned Gajeel laying on the bed. Pantherlily stumbled in, still obviously drunk, and didn't even seem to notice the other two people in the room. The cat wordlessly climbed into bed and fell asleep. Gajeel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and shakily sat up. What happened was barely hitting him, and he didn't know how to react. Why did he let that happen? Why did Laxus? Why did it feel so...right? So many questions were racing through Gajeel's hazy mind.

Was he gay? Was Laxus? Was it just the drugs and alcohol, or something deeper that made them do that? Why the hell did he want more? Could he even look Laxus in the face now?

"I'm going to bed." Laxus' deep voice snapped Gajeel out of his thoughts and sent a shiver down his spine. He could only manage to nod, silently crawling in to bed and curling up in a ball. He had kissed Laxus. Or was it the other way around? Everything had happened so fast it was hard to tell. Why wasn't Laxus angry? Did he even care that he just kissed another guy? All of the questions were giving Gajeel a head ache. He sighed slightly, trying to get the memory out of his head. Laxus' lips had felt so good though...the man knew how to kiss.

Gajeel squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop thinking about it.

He rolled over and was met with a pair of cloudy blue eyes that gleamed slightly in the dim moonlight. The sight was almost enough to make him jump, and yet he couldn't. Something in Laxus' eyes had him paralyzed. The man was looking at him with slight curiosity, but there was a more apparent emotion that Gajeel couldn't name. It was enough to make his skin prickle though. Gajeel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and was about to say something when Laxus suddenly reached out and cupped Gajeel's chin with two fingers. The raven's eyes widened slightly and whatever words he had were caught in his throat. Every fiber in his being told him to move away, to get mad, to do something, and yet he couldn't. His body refused to listen and his mind seemed to shut down. Having Laxus touch him and _not_ hurt him was confusing, yet comforting. It almost felt right. Gajeel was almost positive he actually wanted this.

When Laxus started leaning in, Gajeel felt as if his heart would explode. He knew where this was going but couldn't quite grasp the concept. Was Laxus really going to do it again? On purpose? The very idea made Gajeel shiver slightly. What the hell was happening? He wanted so badly to stop it, but something deep within told him to let it happen. It felt natural for some reason. Gajeel belatedly wondered if it had something to do with his instincts but quickly brushed it aside. He didn't want to think about that, since he wasn't quite sure if he believed it. Metallicana had taught him, of course, but even back then it sounded like bullshit. But now..he was having doubts. Maybe it was true?

Before he could ponder over the thought any more, his lips were covered by the lightning mages, and he felt as if the world had stopped moving. He never believed people when they said they felt sparks when they kissed someone special. But now, he understood what they meant. His whole body tingled, especially his lips, and he briefly wondered if Laxus was using his magic on him. But the man wasn't doing anything, except kissing him of course. And he actually looked serious about it. It took a moment, but eventually Gajeel felt himself give in to his internal desires and kiss back. All previous thoughts and worries were quickly tossed aside as he let go.

He glanced down at Pantherlily to make sure the cat was still sleeping before letting his eyes droop shut, his tongue slipping out to meet the blondes. He was surprised at how quickly things were escalating and how hot the room had become. His hands gripped Laxus by the shoulders as the older male sucked on his tongue, his hands sifting through Gajeel's thick mane. Eventually the need for air became too much and they broke apart, only to dive back in. Laxus took Gajeel's bottom lip into his mouth and bit down slightly, his sharp canines drawing blood. Gajeel was too far gone to feel the pain. His entire body felt hot, his heart was pounding madly within his chest, and he was unbelievably aroused.

They had shifted closer at some point and now their chests were pressed tightly together, but their lower halves remained far apart. Pantherlily was sleeping in between them after all and if they shifted their lower bodies too much he would wake up. Neither of them wanted that. But at this point it was getting hard not to move closer. Laxus proved this by ever so gently grabbing Gajeel by the hips and jerking him closer. The raven nervously glanced at Pantherlily again and was relieved to see him sound asleep. His red eyes then promptly snapped wide open as Laxus somewhat roughly gripped his rock hard length. He couldn't hold back the groan that slipped past his lips, causing Laxus to smirk and continue devouring the younger mans lips.

As their lips molded together and Laxus' hand did wonders down stairs, Gajeel felt his eyes slip back shut and his body relax. He couldn't even form a proper thought at this point. If Laxus wanted to do this, then Gajeel wasn't going to protest. He was perfectly content with letting the man have his way, which should be concerning for Gajeel. It wasn't like him to lay there and take it. But it felt so right being submissive with Laxus, and he knew why. Everything that damn Metallicana had told him was true. But he didn't care right now. All of his attention was on the growing pressure between his legs as Laxus' hand went faster. He was pretty sure the man was using his magic to help stimulate his member, which surprisingly felt good. Good enough to get him this close to release in such a short amount of time.

Just as Gajeel's hands gripped Laxus' hair and he bit down on the blondes lip to hold in the groan of pure ecstasy as he reached his limit, they heard a sound from the end of the bed. Laxus was quick to move to the other side of the bed so they didn't look suspicious, but Gajeel remained frozen in place. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to his mouth to bite it, trying desperately to keep quiet as he came. Pantherlily looked around blearily to make sure everything was alright. From what he could tell, both Laxus and Gajeel were sleeping. He sighed and rolled over, quickly going back to sleep.

Once he calmed down, Gajeel released the now torn blanket and sighed, frowning at the stickiness in his boxers. He then realized what they had just done and frowned more. Laxus was still looking at him, his earlier amusement disappearing as he too realized what he had done. He wasn't sure what had came over him. The first time they kissed was an accident, and while it did surprise him, he wasn't angry or repulsed like he should be. But the second time was something entirely different. Something had come over him, something he couldn't control. And now he felt sick for actually enjoying what he did. The smell of Gajeel's arousal was still in the air, reminding him of what he had done.

It had felt so right at first, kissing Gajeel. Touching him was even better. The fact that Gajeel had gone along with it surprised Laxus, but it had been satisfying too. Watching the man let go and take it was incredibly pleasing. It was like having a toy that you could do whatever you wanted with, which was unlike Gajeel. He liked seeing that submissive side, it felt natural. And seeing Gajeel hold back as he came was incredibly arousing, if not a little amusing. But now he felt disgusted and confused.

The two stared at each other for another moment, practically glaring at one another, until finally Gajeel rolled out of bed and stormed into the bathroom to clean up. Laxus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling exhausted. He didn't want to think about it anymore, he just wanted to sleep. As far as he was concerned, nothing had just happened. Tomorrow they would wake up and go home and Laxus wouldn't even have to look at Gajeel anymore.

That's what he thought, of course.

* * *

Pantherlily was sure he had never felt so confused in his life. Ever since he woke up this morning things had been odd. For one, he was hungover, as were the others. This was rare for him since he never consumed alcohol. To make matters worse, Gajeel and Laxus refused to speak to each other. They wouldn't even spare a glance in the others direction. Usually the two would argue about something, or even make meaningless small talk. In fact, last night they almost acted like friends. So then how did they end up like this?

Due to the heavy pounding in his head Pantherlily didn't think much about it. After packing and meeting up with the others, they soon departed for Magnolia. He figured the day couldn't get much weirder, but as soon as Natsu saw Gajeel and Laxus he was proven wrong. The salmon haired boy kept looking over the two and seemed confused. Pantherlily was almost positive he even tried sniffing Gajeel at some point. It made no sense to the Exceed so he decided to just curl up on Gajeel's head and fall asleep. He didn't want to be awake for the ride home anyways.

When he woke again they were already in Fairy Tail and were speaking with the Master. He listened as each person explained what happened and described the mage they fought. When it was Gajeel and Laxus' turn the cat noticed how Gajeel stayed silent for the most part, and how neither of them brought up how Gajeel was bit and Laxus saved him. The Master did seem pleased though. Pantherlily wasn't sure why, it wasn't like his plan completely worked. Sure, they weren't fighting or arguing anymore but they weren't friends either. There was an intense amount of tension coming from them that everyone could feel and it made things quite uncomfortable.

Eventually though they were dismissed. Gajeel made his way back downstairs and sat at the usual table. Almost immediately Levy came over and sat next to him, looking somewhat worried. Pantherlily knew she probably had a dozen questions and also knew Gajeel wouldn't want to answer them, which meant he would have to step in.

"Hello Levy." He greeted since Gajeel obviously wasn't going to speak.

"Hi guys! How was the mission?" She asked, relaxing a little now that someone was talking.

"Not so bad. All we did was take down a dark guild and then relax in Hosenka Town. What have you been up to?" The black cat asked, hoping to take the attention off their mission, since it made Gajeel oddly tense.

"I did a small mission with Jet and Droy but that's about it. Oh, and I got a new book. It's really interesting! But I've been too worried to read it, since I've been thinking about the whole Laxus thing. Did anything else happen Gajeel?" The blue haired girl asked, frowning as Gajeel glared at her.

"Nothing happened and it's no body's damn business!" He growled, mentally slapping himself for being so defensive. It's not like anyone else knew about it but he still felt so paranoid.

Levy was ready to berate Gajeel for his attitude when she suddenly stopped and looked at his bottom lip. "What happened to your lip?" She asked, causing Gajeel to freeze, memories of last night flooding his mind. Almost instantly his face turned the slightest shade of red, which didn't go unnoticed by Levy or Pantherlily.

"N-nothing! I don't know what you're talking about shrimp, and it ain't your business anyways! I'm going home!" He replied quickly, leaving before they could say anything else. Levy watched him go, feeling confused for once.

"What was that about?" She asked Pantherlily who shrugged in response.

"He's been acting weird all day. Last night he and Laxus actually seemed to be getting along, but then this morning they wouldn't even look at each other, let alone talk. Something's up, but there's no way we'll ever find out." The Exceed replied, glancing over at Laxus who was sitting at the bar with the Raijinshuu. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the small cut on Laxus' lower lip.

"He smells different too." Natsu suddenly said, sitting down next to Levy. The girl cocked her head to the side and asked, "What do you mean Natsu? What does he smell like?"

"I don't know how to explain it. He just smells...different. So does Laxus. It's almost like they...but no, that's not possible. It's not the same..." He muttered, beginning to talk to himself.

"Like they what? You're not making sense Natsu." Levy questioned, getting more confused by the minute.

"It's nothing, just...nothing. It couldn't be that anyways. Forget I even brought it up."

Just as Levy was about to say something, Lucy suddenly appeared and grabbed Natsu by the scarf. "Natsu you idiot! There's no food in my house again!" She yelled, shaking Natsu a little. Pantherlily watched as they talked, remembering something that had happened in Hosenka Town.

_"You smelled it too?" Laxus asked with a knowing smirk. Gajeel nodded and barked out a laugh. "Those two finally fucked each other. It's about time Natsu hit that."_

The cat frowned as a very sick, twisted and impossible thought came to mind.

* * *

Gajeel angrily shut the front door of his small house and sighed in irritation. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he trying to make things obvious? He had stupidly forgotten about the cut on his lip and wanted nothing more than to beat Laxus to a pulp for leaving proof of what they did. Natsu was already suspicious and now Levy would be too, plus Pantherlily. Things were spiraling out of control and Gajeel couldn't keep up with it all, he was barely coming to terms with what happened. If other people figured it out before he did, he would lose his mind, which he already was.

"I gotta calm down.." He sighed, heading for the shower. Whenever things became too much and he needed a break, the shower was always a safe zone. Without even locking the door he stripped off his clothes and turned on the water, waiting for it to get warm before stepping in. As the hot water cascaded down his body he instantly felt relaxed. Grabbing the bar of soap he began scrubbing over himself, letting his eyes slip shut. Without realizing it he ran his tongue over the small cut, mind drifting back to last night and imagining Laxus touching him instead of himself, almost feeling the mans lips on his. He imagined Laxus standing behind him completely naked, rubbing the soap over his body and kissing a trail down his neck, his hand wandering lower and lower until...

"FUCK!" He yelled, jumping out of his daze with a gasp and dropping the soap. He put a hand over his beating heart and took a shuddering breath, slowly sinking down to the floor. What was that? Did he really just fantasize about Laxus? Looking down, he groaned at how hard a mere day dream made him.

"The fuck is wrong with me..." He muttered, gritting his teeth. He was straight, wasn't he? He had always liked Levy. But then again, she was with Jet. And he did technically let Laxus kiss him twice, among other things. Now he was having sexual fantasies about the guy and seemed to like them very much. So then...that made him gay, didn't it? The mere thought made him growl in irritation. He quickly stood up and turned the water on cold, resting his forehead on the wall. It felt like he was having some sort of midlife crisis.

He heard the front door close and decided to get out, drying off and tying the towel around his waist. When he walked into his bedroom Pantherlily was waiting for him on the bed, looking far more serious than usual. Gajeel mentally prepared himself for whatever his cat had to say, knowing he wouldn't like it. He walked into his closet and closed the door, appearing a minute later dressed in sweat pants and a muscle shirt. Pantherlily was still waiting which meant he definitely wanted to talk. Gajeel sighed and figured he might as well get it over with.

"What is it, Lily. I know you didn't come home early to stare at me." He said, crossing his arms and looking down at his cat.

"I want to know what's going on Gajeel. What happened last night with you and Laxus?" The Exceed asked. He wasn't really expecting an answer but knew he had to try.

"Nothing happened. I don't know why you think that, but knock it off." Gajeel replied with slight irritation.

"Why do you both have those cuts on your lips then?" This made Gajeel pause for a moment. Laxus had a cut too? When did that happen? An image of him kissing Laxus just as he was about to cum came to mind and it hit him, making him blush slightly and turn away.

"Beats the hell out of me." He shrugged, hoping he sounded convincing. He certainly didn't feel like it.

"I know something strange is going on between you two, and eventually I will find out. Natsu says you both smell different and while I can't smell it, I can see and feel it. You two were fine until this morning which means at some point last night he did something to you." Pantherlily said, noticing how Gajeel tensed up and slowly turned around, his red eyes narrowed.

"Who said _he_ did something to _me_?" He growled, not liking where this was going.

"Are you saying you did something to him? Because I find that unlikely."

"And why is that? You think I'm too weak to do anything, is that it?" Gajeel asked, his voice rising. Was his own cat implying he was weak?

"That's not what I meant and you know it. It's just, the way you two act and the kind of relationship you have, he usually controls what happens."

"We don't have a fucking relationship! And he doesn't control me goddammit!" Gajeel yelled, wishing his cat was in his larger form so he could strangle him.

"I never said he controlled you, Gajeel. It's just, with the whole dragon instincts thing, he's the dominant one. Isn't that how it works?" Pantherlily asked, instantly regretting his words when Gajeel bared his teeth.

"He's _not_ the dominant one. Just because he did that to me...it doesn't mean shit! I'm not weak!" Gajeel hissed, his pride feeling wounded. Yet in the back of his mind he knew it was true, and that only fueled his anger.

"I know that, Gajeel! But Laxus is stronger than you, he's proved it multiple times! You need to just accept it!" Pantherlily yelled back, his patience dwindling. They weren't getting anywhere.

"I can't dammit! I hate him, I hate what he did to me! It's not the same!"

"Then why did you seem so close last night?" Pantherlily asked, and in his rage, Gajeel slipped.

"How much did you see? I thought you were sleeping!" He yelled, realizing his mistake too late. There was a tense moment of silence before Pantherlily spoke again, this time more calmly.

"I meant at the bar. What happened while I was sleeping, Gajeel?" He asked, noticing how Gajeel backed up, looking like a cornered puppy.

"Nothing happened. Tell anyone about this and I'll kill you." He said, turning abruptly and leaving the room. Pantherlily didn't bother to follow, since he knew Gajeel was leaving and wouldn't be back anytime soon. He had pretty much gotten his answer anyways, though he didn't want to accept it.

Laxus must have forced himself on Gajeel.

* * *

He had no idea where he was going. It wasn't like he could go back to the guild, Levy or Natsu would just question him, and he would have to see Laxus. If anything, he didn't want to see Laxus anytime soon. He was too confused and seeing him would make it worse. With a sigh, he rounded a corner and ran right into a familiar, muscular chest. God hated him, he was sure. Of all the people he could run into at that moment, it had to be him.

"In a hurry?" That familiar voice asked, and Gajeel almost cursed at how easily that voice made him shiver.

"What's it to ya." He muttered, refusing to look the man in the eye. Just being this close made Gajeel go crazy. The mans scent invaded his nose, flooding his mind again of images from last night.

"The hell are you doing out here? It's getting cold, metal head, you should be home." Laxus replied, quirking an eyebrow at the ravens odd behavior. He wasn't expecting things to be normal after last night but this was still a bit too weird.

"Why would you care? Just leave me alone." He said, moving past the large man to walk away. He needed to get away before he snapped. A hand caught him by the wrist, making him stop and clench his jaw. Skin on skin contact was just too much.

"What's your problem, Redfox? I thought we were past this." Laxus growled, angrily jerking Gajeel closer. The man tried breaking free but it was useless.

"You don't know shit! You're not the boss of me...you're not the dominant one, dammit! I'm not your bitch! I'm not...I'm not submissive..." His voice faded into a whisper as he stared at the floor, wishing Laxus would let him go.

"You're a very confused bitch then, Redfox. I've already proven my place, and it's above you. Apparently you need another lesson. Come on, we're going to my place." Laxus growled as he dragged Gajeel by the wrist all the way to his house, ignoring the fighting raven behind him. He unlocked the door and threw Gajeel inside, quickly locking the door behind him. Before Gajeel could get up he was once again being dragged into Laxus' bedroom, and his body went cold. What was Laxus going to do to him? With a pained grunt, he landed on the bed, flinching as the door was slammed shut and locked.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Gajeel yelled as Laxus approached him, his body sparking ominously.

"Putting you back in your place. What happened last night, that was me being a nice dominant. And you were a good little submissive, taking it like that. I wasn't planning on doing that and it still sickens me, but it also feels right, and I know you've been thinking the same thing. But that doesn't mean you can take out all of this anger and confusion on me. I'm just as confused but you don't see me getting all bent outta shape." Laxus said, climbing into the large bed and crawling towards Gajeel.

"You've been ignoring me. You did that to me and then acted like nothing happened! How am I supposed to feel?!" Gajeel yelled, trying to get away from the angry blonde. The man was too quick however and quickly had him pinned down underneath him.

"You did the same damn thing. What did you want, flowers and a date? This is purely because of instincts Redfox, and if you don't want it, then you never should have pissed me off." He hissed, his hands erupting in lighting and shocking Gajeel, making the man cry out in pain. He hated Laxus' lightning.

Once the lightning stopped, Gajeel was too stunned to resist as Laxus tore his shirt off. He knew where this was going and knew his life was about to go to hell. Metallicana had briefly explained this to him before but he didn't pay much attention. The dragons words still echoed in his mind.

_"When two dragons fight, it is to prove who is dominant and who isn't. Whoever comes out on top becomes the others leader of sorts. The submissive one will have to obey the dominant one, or else they will fight more. Usually though the submissive obeys the leader and looks to him for protection. There are some special cases however. Sometimes two dragons are both naturally dominant. They are too stubborn to back down. In this case, those two dragons will fight until one dies or learns to be submissive. Then, in an even more rare case, the two become mates."_

_"Mates? The hell you going on about, ya damn lizard?"_

_"Be quiet and listen child. If two dragons fight and one becomes the dominant one, he will start to see the submissive one differently and vice-versa. He will feel the need to protect the submissive one and also make it his through mating. Once they are mated, that dragon will forever be dominant and the other will forever be submissive, whether he likes it or not. He may still fight back a little but never enough to truly anger it's master. It is all instincts my boy, and some day you will go through it. Hopefully you'll wise up by then and not get yourself killed."_

_"Oi, are you saying I'm gonna be submissive?! Cause I ain't! I'm gonna be dominant, dammit! And I'm gonna mate with a female anyways."_

_"We shall see, ignorant brat."_

Metallicana had knew from the beginning, yet Gajeel never could figure it out. He was doomed to be like this forever. And of all the people, he got Laxus. Fate was a cruel, cruel bitch. He was quickly brought back into reality when Laxus began dragging his pants down, causing him to quickly react and yank them back up. Laxus growled and sent a jolt of lightning through Gajeel, temporarily paralyzing him. Gajeel could only squeeze his eyes shut as the rest if his clothes were removed. When nothing happened, he slowly opened one eye and gulped at the look Laxus was giving him. The blonde looked like he could devour Gajeel any second, and he had a different look in his eyes which were now considerably darker. When Laxus began stripping Gajeel felt his throat go dry.

Inch by glorified muscled inch, Laxus exposed himself, and Gajeel hated how much it turned him on. The man was trying to rape him! He shouldn't be enjoying it! But with that body...how couldn't he? Once Laxus' shirt was gone his pants and boxers were quick to follow, leaving them both completely naked. Laxus went back to holding Gajeel down which for some odd reason turned the raven on even more.

"Try anything and you'll regret it." Laxus growled, his own hardened length rubbing against Gajeel's, making the younger man groan. He was enjoying this way too much. Laxus noticed and smirked before leaning down and sucking on Gajeel's neck, making the man buck his hips. Their hips ground together, creating a delicious friction which had Gajeel seeing stars. He winced and began struggling as Laxus pierced his skin, not wanting another noticeable mark, but a quick zap had him staying still.

"B-bastard.." Gajeel gasped, body jerking as Laxus gripped his pierced cock.

"I'll warn you again. Either you be submissive, or you'll pay. Having all that metal in your skin will make it more painful when I shock you." He said, making Gajeel's eyes widen and his chest constrict in fear. Without thinking he nodded quickly and kept his mouth shut.

"Good boy. Just for that, I'll show some mercy." Laxus said, repositioning himself so his own member was right in Gajeel's face. "Now suck." He said, grinning as Gajeel stared incredulously at him. As badly as he wanted to lash out and refuse, he knew it wouldn't be good, so he reluctantly took the tip into his mouth. Slowly, the rest of Laxus' manhood was enveloped by Gajeel's mouth, making the blonde groan at the incredible feeling it gave him. The taste wasn't completely bad, not that Gajeel had anything to compare it to. It's not like he was experienced in giving men blow jobs. He had received a few in Phantom Lord and vaguely remembered what some of the girls did to make it feel good.

Experimentally, he swirled his tongue around the tip, before hollowing out his cheeks and sucking until almost all of Laxus' length was out of his mouth. He then went back down until nearly all of it was back in. Laxus couldn't believe how good it felt, and wondered where Gajeel learned how to do this. The mere sight of Gajeel sucking him off was enough to almost make him cum. After a few more sucks Laxus pulled away and once again repositioned himself so his rock hard member was at Gajeel's entrance.

"Get ready Redfox, this is gonna hurt like a bitch." Was all the warning Gajeel got before he was quickly penetrated. The pain was unlike anything Gajeel had ever felt before and he couldn't hold back the surprised cry. Laxus barely gave him a second to adjust before he pulled out and roughly pounded back in. He was doing this to teach Gajeel a lesson of course, he couldn't go easy on him. He did feel a tad guilty though but the pleasure was enough to make up for it. He knew he had probably torn something but if that's what it took for Gajeel to be submissive then that's what he would do.

Gajeel's sharp nails bit into Laxus' skin as he gripped the larger mans shoulders, clenching his jaw so he wouldn't cry out again. The pain was simply unbearable. Even as Laxus started pumping his forgotten cock he couldn't get over the pain. Laxus was too damn big. The pain only got worse as Laxus got lost in the pleasure and let his scales come out, lightning sparking randomly from his body.

After what felt like an eternity Laxus finally reached completion and filled Gajeel with his seed. His scales vanished as he rolled off the younger dragon slayer, feeling a sense of accomplishment. Gajeel panted heavily as pain throbbed throughout his body, feeling violated yet somehow complete. It had hurt, yes, but the fact that he just had sex with Laxus made him feel...whole. And just knowing this made him sick.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Laxus suddenly said, causing Gajeel to look down at his body. He was shocked to see splatters of his own cum on his stomach. How the hell did he manage to finish during all that pain? He merely nodded, not trusting his voice, and let Laxus help him out of bed. As soon as his feet touched the ground he groaned in pain. He wouldn't be able to walk for a few days. Before he could attempt to walk he was getting picked up and carried bridal style. He looked up at Laxus in confusion and slight annoyance, not wanting to be carried like a girl, but didn't dare say anything. Before they entered the bathroom he glanced back at the bed and saw the blood stained sheets.

He would never make Laxus angry again.

* * *

**Ah, a confusing chapter indeed. Pantherlily seems to have the wrong idea, or maybe not, Levy is confused, Natsu is suspicious, Laxus is still in denial and Gajeel is just all over the place. Poor Gajeel! Things will get better for him soon though, I promise! I'll admit this is a bit of an odd story but what can you expect with Laxeel. They're just an odd couple. But I am glad so many of you have read it and gave it a chance. Don't be so shy though, leave a review! Even if it's just a smiley face, it makes a difference.**


	6. Chapter 6

If Gajeel had any grip on his sanity before, he certainly didn't now. Whatever Laxus was doing to him right now was working at an alarming rate. His mentality was shot, his body exhausted, and he was horribly confused. All he could do was let Laxus lead him into the shower and stand there as the blood and cum was washed away. Laxus stood behind him, gently cleaning the shaking man off, wondering if things had gone too far. Gajeel was too quiet and had a far off look in his eyes. It's not like he enjoyed doing that, but it was a part of him he couldn't control. If Gajeel could just learn to do what he's supposed to then this wouldn't happen. At first all Laxus needed to do was beat the dominance out of him, but then their relationship changed. Now he had to resort to this. He hated it, really, and wished things could just be normal again. This wasn't _normal_, it wasn't who he was.

"I don't like hurting you. I've told you that before and I'll tell you again." Laxus muttered, keeping his voice low. Gajeel didn't even blink. "If you would just learn...we wouldn't need to go through this shit. I could take care of you, you know. We're in this mess together for whatever reason, so we might as well act the part. I've proven my place, now it's your turn." He continued as he moved up to the mans hair, gently massaging his scalp. Gajeel relaxed ever so slightly, considering his words carefully. Could they really be the typical dominant/submissive pair? The pair Metallicana always told him about? Could he really handle being a submissive dragon slayer when he's been dominant his whole life? The idea of being protected by Laxus did sound nice, after everything they just went through.

"I can be nice, you know. I can treat you right instead of always hurting you. I can show you what it's like to have passionate sex instead of what we just did. That wasn't okay, I know that, but I did it so you would learn. Just be submissive, and I promise you won't regret it. I'll never hurt you again. Can you do that, Gajeel?" Laxus asked, lips brushing against the ravens ear seductively. This time he did get a reaction. Gajeel's eyes widened as soon as he heard his name come out of the blondes mouth. Not metal head, not Redfox, just Gajeel. Laxus was filling his mind with nonsense and Gajeel was falling for it. With a shiver, he nodded yes, causing Laxus to smirk.

"Good. I'm trusting you won't disobey me again, I really don't enjoy doing this." The blonde said as he turned the water off and helped Gajeel dry off. The two entered his room and returned to bed, Gajeel still looking traumatized yet somehow relaxed. He definitely wouldn't make Laxus mad again, but agreeing to being his submissive...well, he still wasn't sure about that. This man had hurt him too many times for him to be comfortable with that. Mates were supposed to love each other and be happy with their positions. Gajeel certainly didn't love Laxus, and wasn't happy with being submissive. And he knew Laxus didn't love him. He just enjoyed being in charge. Everything the blonde just said was lies, just to get Gajeel back to normal again, and yet...Gajeel wanted to believe it. He was falling into a trap he couldn't escape from.

"Get some rest. You can't go to the guild like this." Laxus said, and once again Gajeel merely nodded. He knew he couldn't go out like this. But rest wouldn't help and he knew that. He needed to be alone, and away from Laxus.

So, after Laxus fell asleep, he quietly got dressed and left.

It was early in the morning so Pantherlily would still be sleeping. He would have time to think. How had it come to this? To him being raped? Though, he wasn't sure if he could call it rape, since he didn't completely hate it. He wished he could have his old life back. He wished he could go back to before they got in that fight, when everything started. All because of that day, because he pissed Laxus off, he was in this twisted relationship. He knew Laxus didn't want it either, so maybe if he just avoided the man things would be normal again. It's not like the lightning mage would care.

With a sigh, he entered his house and slipped into his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Would it really be that easy? He didn't want to see Laxus. The man had hurt him way too much. And yet...the memories from the night in that hotel still haunted him, making him think differently. He had wanted that...and even when Laxus technically raped him, he wanted it too, despite the pain. Something about Laxus was just...alluring. He wanted to be around him, yet at the same time he didn't.

Things were becoming too much for Gajeel. When did everything get so confusing? He supposed it was the night at the hotel. Before they kissed, things were fine. Sure, they had fought a few times but Gajeel was content with their relationship. They were close enough to friends, and he was even okay with admitting Laxus was stronger. But now...everything was messed up. He still had no idea if he was gay, or if Laxus was. Before all of this he was straight. He had liked Levy after all. For a while he thought they would get together, but then she suddenly went with Jet. It had hurt Gajeel but he stayed friends with her none the less. After that he didn't really try looking for someone else. Now he was stuck with Laxus in a loveless relationship...

But that wasn't necessarily true. If he just stayed away, maybe things would get better. And that's exactly what he planned on doing.

* * *

Later that day, an oddly serious looking Natsu walked into Makarov's office, deciding that he needed to tell someone about this. Nobody else would understand as good as the Master. He didn't want to believe his nose but at this point he couldn't deny it anymore. As soon as he saw Gajeel walk through the guild doors he knew what had happened. The man smelled like Laxus. Yet the two didn't even look at each other, and Gajeel looked oddly depressed. Natsu knew that couldn't be good. So, he decided to ask Master about it.

"What seems to be the problem Natsu?" Makarov asked, frowning at Natsu's serious attitude. If Natsu was ever serious it wasn't for nothing.

"It's Gajeel. He..well, he smells like Laxus." Natsu began, not quite sure how to explain the situation. The Master seemed pleased by this, if not a little shocked.

"So they are getting along after all! I wasn't expecting them to mate, but I can't say it's a bad thing. As long as they're happy." The old man said, wondering why Natsu would seem so upset by that.

"That's just the thing, they're not happy. They're ignoring each other again and Gajeel seems kinda down. I've never seen him like that. And Laxus...he doesn't seem to care at all." The pinkette explained, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Ah, that's not good. Not good at all. I figured it would be more complicated with them. They just can't accept what's going on and therefore can't be happy. Now they're just going to act like nothing happened but that can be the worst thing to do, especially for a submissive." The Master said, his smile vanishing.

"Why do you say that Gramps?" The boy asked, not getting where the Master was going with this. Igneel never mentioned anything about submissives staying away from their dominants.

"Once mated, the two will be drawn to each other, especially the submissive. They will crave the dominants attention and start to fall into depression if they are ignored. Knowing Gajeel, he's not happy about being submissive and can't accept what's going on. He's too stubborn and will just avoid Laxus. And Laxus is such an idiot he won't even care." He explained, wanting to smack the two for being so stupid.

"Can't we do anything to help? It doesn't feel right seeing them like this, especially Gajeel. They were just starting to be friends too.."

"I'm afraid we can't do much. The only thing standing in between them and happiness, is themselves. It's up to them to fix it, mostly Laxus since he's the dominant one. Just keep an eye on them I suppose."

"I will. Thanks Gramps." Natsu said, leaving the office and going back downstairs. Gajeel was still sitting at his usual table staring at the wall and Laxus was still at the bar, talking with the thunder legion. It angered Natsu that he could just leave Gajeel like this. Being a dominant himself, he would never treat his mate like that. But those two had a confusing relationship, not even close to his and Lucy's. He knew there was more to it than he knew, but still, this wasn't right.

If Gajeel wasn't better soon, he would say something to Laxus.

* * *

It had been nearly a week since Gajeel spoke to Laxus, and it had taken it's toll. He felt terribly depressed and most of the time stayed home and layed in bed. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop thinking about the blonde. He barely slept anymore and hardly ate anything. The worst part is, he didn't know why he felt like this. He shouldn't want to be around Laxus and yet that's all he wanted. He felt so empty inside, like there was a giant hole in his heart. He missed Laxus.

Pantherlily noticed right away of course and felt incredibly worried. He had never seen Gajeel like this. Whenever he tried asking about it he would just get short answers, if anything. Finally he decided to just ask Levy about it. She was smart, so maybe she could help somehow. He flew over to her table, glancing over at Laxus as he did. The man looked completely normal. For some odd reason this angered him. How could Laxus be completely fine while Gajeel suffered? Didn't he care at all?

"Oh, hi Lily! Still no Gajeel huh?" The bookworm asked, looking sadly at the brown cat. Lily shook his head no and crossed his arms.

"That's actually why I came here. I've never seen him so depressed like this and I don't know what to do. I know Laxus did something to him and it messed him up. That's why he refuses to come to the guild now, he doesn't want to see him. Yet Laxus seems fine." Pantherlily said, once again looking over at Laxus who was drinking a mug of beer.

"I'm glad you brought it up, since I've been doing some research on dragon slayers. It turns out if one stays away from it's mate for too long, it gets really sad. But I don't think their mates. That would be weird." She replied, eyes widening at what Lily said next.

"Actually, they are. Sort of. I hate to say this, but I think Laxus...raped him. I can't smell it like other dragon slayers but I can tell when somethings up, and something is definitely up." He said, grimacing at the word rape.

"Oh no, that's terrible! Poor Gajeel...but how do you know for sure? Maybe Gajeel agreed to it?" She asked, not wanting to believe something like that happened to Gajeel.

"Maybe, but the day after it happened they wouldn't talk to each other. And when you asked about it he got defensive. It would make sense."

"That's true...but maybe Gajeel's just confused and doesn't want to deal with it. We can't really know for sure and he won't tell us. But we can't just leave him like this. We have to get them to talk again." Levy said, an idea coming to mind.

"But how?" The Exceed asked, wondering how he would ever convince Gajeel to talk to Laxus.

"Well, Mira's planning a party for tomorrow night. Maybe we can get them to talk there?" She suggested, stopping suddenly as a loud noise was heard at the bar. Looking over, she was surprised to see Natsu glaring at Laxus with his fists covered in flames.

"What did you do to Gajeel?!" The salmon haired teen yelled, gaining half of the guilds attention. Laxus glared back, wondering why Natsu would care.

"I didn't do shit. I don't know what you're talking about, Salamander." The lightning mage replied, dodging a punch aimed for his face.

"Then why has he been acting so weird?! He hasn't been here in days! Don't you even care about what's happening?!"

"Why do you think I would know? And why should I care?" He asked, growling as Natsu grabbed him by his coat.

"Because he smells like you. I know what you two did, Laxus. You can't ignore your mate like this. It's not right!" Natsu growled, keeping his voice low so nobody could hear.

"He's not my mate, and you have no idea what we did. Besides, he's ignoring me too. Why should I chase after him when he doesn't want to see me? He's made it clear he doesn't want anything to do with me and I couldn't care less." Laxus replied nonchalantly, and without even batting an eyelash summoned a lightning bolt and zapped Natsu. Pantherlily turned back to Levy with a grim expression.

"We have to do something."

* * *

The next day, after hours and hours of begging and convincing, Pantherlily finally got Gajeel to agree to come to the party. The raven wasn't happy but knew he needed fresh air. And, deep down, he secretly hoped Laxus was there. At this point he would settle for just seeing the man. He decided to wear his brown shirt instead of the usual outfit and put on the matching head band, and it certainly wasn't to get Laxus' attention. He just needed a change. After that he walked to the guild with Lily, having an odd feeling the cat was up to something.

Like all the other Fairy Tail parties, you could hear the noise from miles away. Gajeel honestly just wanted to drown himself in alcohol and hopefully forget his problems. As soon as they entered the guild, Levy ran up to Gajeel looking far too excited. Loud music was playing and the lights were dimmed to the point where they were almost off, but he could still see that she was wearing make up. Probably for Jet.

"Gajeel, you came!" She said happily, seeming surprised. Gajeel merely grunted in response and looked around, trying to find a familiar head of blonde hair. He frowned when he couldn't spot Laxus. Levy and Pantherlily shared a look, knowing he was looking for Laxus who hadn't arrived yet. Levy wasn't even sure he was coming, but hoped he would show up.

"I'm gonna go get a beer." Gajeel said, deciding he needed alcohol. Now. He wanted to be drunk before he saw Laxus. As he ordered a beer from Mira, who had been flirting with Freed, he noticed the green haired man giving him an odd look and narrowed his eyes at him. He couldn't possibly know anything, could he? Laxus wouldn't have told him. He decided to just go sit at one of the tables to avoid getting stared at. Levy and Pantherlily joined him, each looking somewhat suspicious. Gajeel had a feeling they were planning something and he didn't like that.

"Mira sure knows how to throw a party." Levy said, smiling happily. Gajeel nodded slightly, looking around at all the flashing lights. Most of the guild members were dancing, he noticed, even Natsu who looked like a complete idiot. The sight almost made him laugh.

"Indeed she does. What's the occasion anyways?" Pantherlily asked, the thought just now occuring to him.

"Oh, it's Lisanna's birthday. I hear Mira baked a huge cake and is gonna bring it out later as a surprise." Levy replied, waving as Wendy walked in with Carla. The white Exceed spotted Pantherlily and flew over to him.

"Hello Lily. Would you like to dance?" She asked, and this time Gajeel did smirk. He knew there was something going on with them, he just knew it! Lily noticed him smirking and blushed.

"Of course Carla, I'd love to." He replied, eager to get away from Gajeel's evil grin. He knew he would get an earful later. Once he left, Levy turned to him, hoping to get some answers.

"So Gajeel, have you been sick lately? I haven't seen you around for a while." She asked, hoping the question wouldn't anger him. Gajeel was easy to anger after all.

"Yeah, I've been sick." He lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. He felt sick, just in a different way. Levy frowned at this, knowing that wasn't true.

"I see. That's not good. But you feel good enough to be here, right?" She asked. Gajeel frowned at this. Did he feel good? He wanted to see Laxus, and he knew he shouldn't want that. But the past week had been misery. His heart ached and he didn't understand it. He still felt the pain now, which meant he didn't really feel good. But he didn't want to tell Levy that.

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't plan on staying the whole time though." He said. Once he saw Laxus he would probably hurry up and leave before the pain got worse. He wanted Laxus to talk to him, to look at him, just anything.

"I don't think I will either. Me and Jet are going on a date after this." She said, causing Gajeel to scowl. He didn't want to hear about Levy's successful love life when his was in shambles.

Wait...love life?

He didn't have a love life, certainly not with Laxus. He didn't love Laxus. That wasn't possible. After everything...he couldn't possibly love Laxus. Could he? It would be so wrong..yet it would explain his depression. He wanted to see Laxus because...he loved him? But Laxus would never feel the same. Gajeel knew that. And yet...it made him feel so much worse.

"Shrimp...what do you do when you love someone you shouldn't?" He asked, regarding her with a curious face. He didn't want to turn to other people for help, but at this point he was desperate. He couldn't deal with the pain anymore, and knew he needed some kind of help. And Levy was smart, she read a lot and probably knew what to do. Plus it's not like she knew anything about him and Laxus anyways. Or at least that's what he thought. Levy however knew exactly why he would ask such a thing.

"Well...I can't say for sure. It depends on why you shouldn't love them. But love works in mysterious ways and sometimes we just can't control it. Sometimes it's best to just follow your heart." She replied, watching as Gajeel got lost in thought again. Follow his heart? What did his heart say to do? He really wanted to see Laxus despite everything. That meant he was in love, right? If his heart wanted Laxus, then he should go for it, right?

"Follow my heart..?" He repeated slowly, eyes flicking to the door as it swung open. His nose picked up on the familiar scent of Laxus and his heart started pounding. As soon as he saw Laxus he was overcome with too many emotions. Happiness, sadness, nervousness, lust. The man looked delicious in his purple button up shirt, black leather pants and long black coat with the fur. His eyes followed the blonde as he went over to the bar and sat next to a drunk Cana.

"You need to do what makes you happy Gajeel. Robbing yourself of what you want will only make you feel worse. You need to just let yourself be happy." She continued, noticing how his eyes never left Laxus. She had never seen him with that look in his eyes. Gajeel knew she was right. This whole time he couldn't accept what was happening and it had gotten him nowhere. If he could just accept it, then he could be happy with Laxus. He couldn't keep running anymore. It was time for him to be happy and stop being confused. He loved Laxus, he was submissive, and that was okay.

"You're right shrimp. It's about time I get what I want anyways." Gajeel said, looking at Levy and smiling. For the first time in a long time, he felt happy. With a new found determination, he gulped down the rest of his beer and stood up, turning towards the bar and taking a step forward. As soon as he saw Laxus, he stopped dead in his tracks, dropping his mug in pure shock.

There at the bar, was Laxus making out with Cana.

Levy gasped as she too saw it, her heart breaking for Gajeel. From across the room Pantherlily heard the glass breaking and saw Gajeel standing there, and then saw what his friend was staring at. Both he and Natsu immediately stopped what they were doing and clenched their fists. Laxus looked over at Gajeel and his eyes widened, immediately breaking away from Cana. Gajeel was in shock. His previous thoughts vanished, his mood crashing down along with his shattered heart. Laxus stared back at him with a look of shock, having not expected the man to even be here. But he knew what he just did was wrong. Gajeel proved this when he glared at Laxus and walked away, practically breaking the doors down as he left. Laxus was about to go after him when he was suddenly tackled by Natsu and Pantherlily in his larger form.

"Stay away from him you bastard! You've done enough!" Natsu yelled, punching Laxus in the face.

"Let me go dammit!" Laxus yelled, trying to break free from Pantherlily's grasp.

"Why? So you can go break his heart some more?! You don't deserve him Laxus!" Lily yelled as he too punched Laxus. Freed and Bickslow quickly stepped in and pulled Natsu and Lily away, protecting their leader.

"What just happened?" Cana asked from the bar, looking beyond confused. Levy quickly pulled her away and explained everything to her. She couldn't blame Cana, she had no idea. It was Laxus' fault.

"Take it outside, all of you!" Erza yelled, throwing the group of fighting men out of the guild so they wouldn't ruin the party.

"Get off me! I have to go find him!" Laxus yelled as he was pulled away from Natsu. Lily had turned into his regular form and was already flying away in search of Gajeel.

"Stay away from him. You never cared anyways, remember? You've let him suffer this whole time and now you do this?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Natsu yelled, surprising everyone with his language. Natsu didn't usually swear.

"I didn't think he cared! He's been avoiding me this whole time, how was I supposed to know?!" Laxus yelled back. He figured Gajeel just didn't want anything to do with him.

"He's your mate you asshole! It's your job as the dominant one to take care of him and you failed! You don't deserve to be dominant! Even if he didn't want it, he was still yours and you ignored him! Don't you know what happens if you ignore your submissive?! They fall into depression! This whole time he's been missing you and you never cared! Now you're making out with other people in front of him?! Do you have any idea what you've just done?!" Natsu screamed as he punched Laxus again, Bickslow shoving him away. He had no idea what was going on but still needed to protect Laxus.

"That's why I need to find him you idiot! I have to make this better, I have to! I know I haven't seen him in a while and I've been acting like an asshole but I still need to find him, and you won't stop me!" Laxus yelled as he disappeared in a flash of lightning, transporting himself to Gajeel's house. He kicked open the door and looked everywhere but Gajeel wasn't there. His scent wasn't even fresh which meant Gajeel hadn't been here for a while. But Laxus had no idea where Gajeel would go. He quickly ran around, trying to pick up on Gajeel's scent, but couldn't find it.

"Goddammit, where the hell is he?!" Laxus yelled in frustration, sniffing desperately for even a trace of the ravens scent.

"He's at the beach across town." Pantherlily said, startling Laxus. He looked up at the flying cat suspiciously.

"Why would you tell me that? You don't want me near him, remember?" He asked, wondering if the Exceed was even telling the truth or leading him away from Gajeel.

"As much as I hate you, you do need to make this right. And Gajeel does need you whether he likes it or not. Just hurry up before he runs off somewhere else, he doesn't usually stay in one place when he's like this." The cat replied with a glare, watching as Laxus nodded and flashed away.

When he arrived at the beach, he growled in irritation when Gajeel wasn't there. But his scent was fresh, meaning he had a trail to follow now. He ran through the forest, following the trail even as it led him through town. People stared at him as he ran, probably thinking he was crazy, but he didn't care. He needed to find Gajeel. He wasn't sure why he kissed Cana, she had been drunk and willing and he thought he was available. He was an idiot for thinking like that. He should have talked to Gajeel sooner but didn't see the point. If he wanted to be alone Laxus would let him. And he didn't know about the whole depression thing. But now he felt terrible and knew he needed to fix this. He needed to show Gajeel he loved him, a fact he only recently became aware of.

When Laxus found himself back at Gajeel's house he frowned. Did he really just run across town just to come back here? Did the cat do that on purpose? The mere thought pissed him off, but he quickly opened the door and ran inside, following Gajeel's scent into his bedroom which was locked. He knocked, knowing Gajeel knew he was here. It was like the first time he came here to apologize for fighting him at the guild weeks ago, only this time he really would apologize. When Gajeel didn't even answer, Laxus sighed, knowing this wouldn't be easy.

"Open the door Gajeel." He said, once again getting no response. He decided to just use his magic and appeared in Gajeel's room just in time to catch him before he hopped out the window. He quickly pulled him back inside and pinned him against the wall so he couldn't escape. Gajeel growled angrily and shoved the man away, once again trying to leave. Laxus quickly caught him and held him by the wrists.

"Come on, I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that." Laxus said, grunting as Gajeel kicked him in the stomach, his leg extending into a pole until Laxus crashed into the wall.

"You're _sorry_?! You think I give a shit that you're _sorry_?! I don't give a fuck!" Gajeel yelled, launching at Laxus and punching him with iron fists. Laxus kicked him off and pinned him to the floor, actually struggling to keep the man down. But he wouldn't use magic, he refused to hurt the raven more than he already had.

"Just listen to me dammit! I didn't know you would care, you've been ignoring me for a week! I thought you didn't want to see me!" He tried again, only to get head-butted.

"I don't want to see you, I hate you! I don't give a shit about you!" Gajeel yelled back, his scales coming out as he grew angrier. But he wasn't just angry at Laxus, he was angry at himself for being so stupid. He was angry at Lily for making him go, and Levy for telling him to follow his stupid heart. He was angry at life, at the world. But more than anything he was heartbroken.

"Then why are you so mad?!" Laxus yelled, trying to hold Gajeel down. It was harder than he thought.

"Because you're a fucking asshole, that's why! You beat the shit out of me, you confused me, you raped me, and right when I think I figured everything out and could be happy again you do _this_ to me!"

"I'm sorry! And how can you call it rape when you liked it?!"

"I didn't like it! Not all of it...you did it to put me in my place, remember?! You have no idea what that did to me!" He yelled, his voice breaking at the end.

"I didn't know what I was doing, okay?! I couldn't control it!" Laxus yelled back, letting go of Gajeel's wrists only to get punched in the face. Gajeel stood and glared down at Laxus, his small form shaking.

"I don't care what your excuse is, I don't want to hear it! Now why don't you fight back, huh? Beat the shit out of me and leave!"

"I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to make this right." Laxus said in a quieter voice, stepping towards Gajeel who growled and backed away.

"You can't make this right. You fucked up..." Gajeel said, backing up until he hit the wall. He didn't like Laxus being so close and talking so gently, it made him feel like breaking down. He wasn't even fighting back either.

"I know I did, and I'm sorry Gajeel. I don't know why I was so stupid. I know I hurt you, and I can probably never make it up to you, but you need to know...I love you. I've been confused this whole time but now I know I love you." Laxus said, causing Gajeel's eyes to widen and his anger came back.

"Don't say that! Don't you dare..." He growled, voice hoarse as his throat began to hurt. He quickly looked at the ground so Laxus wouldn't see his eyes start to water.

"I mean it Gajeel. I've been a terrible dominant to you and I don't deserve you, but I'll be damned if you don't know how I feel. When I woke up that day and you weren't there it hurt, and I didn't know why. I was so confused..and then when you ignored me and stopped coming to the guild I thought you didn't want it. You didn't want me. I acted normal but inside I was a mess. I had no idea you would get depressed..." He said, reaching out to gently cup Gajeel's cheek. The raven flinched but didn't pull away.

"I've been thinking about you this whole time, and right when I figure it out...I see you with her. You fucking ruined me!" Gajeel said, looking up at Laxus with tear filled eyes. Laxus froze at seeing this, not expecting to see the man so vulnerable. He didn't think Gajeel was even capable of crying. But because of him, he was, and he felt like the biggest asshole on the planet.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, wiping away the tears as they spilled out all at once. No matter what he did they wouldn't stop coming. It was like a dam had been broken, and that dam was Gajeel's heart.

"I hate you...I hate you so much!" Gajeel growled, resting his head on Laxus' shoulder. Despite everything he still wanted to be close to the man who hurt him. Laxus merely wrapped his arms around Gajeel and ran his fingers through his hair, knowing he didn't mean it.

"Don't say that. I know I deserve it, but don't say that." Laxus said, hugging Gajeel tighter. It felt good to hold his small body like this after everything, but he knew he had a lot of work to do. If he ever wanted to hear Gajeel say he loves him, then he would have to work for it.

And he would, for as long as it took.

* * *

**Mah, so much OOC! It's almost too much! But the idea of these two hugging is just so cute, I can't seem to care. It seems these two have finally come to terms with everything, but there's still so much left to do! Things are about to get fluffy and way more OOC. You've been warned.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm not sure where to end this fic. I guess after all the fluff, so maybe two chapters from now. I really have no idea. There's going to be a change of pace now, since up until this point it's been mostly drama. Might be a little weird, but whatever, I want to write Laxeel fluff.**

**I own nothing!**

* * *

Early the next morning an exhausted looking Laxus walked into the guild. The only other people there were Mira, Makarov, Lisanna and Elfman and a few random guild members. The oldest take over mage looked surprised to see Laxus there so early but smiled none the less. She had no idea what was going on between him and Gajeel but after last night she knew it was something serious. She was a bit mad at them for disrupting her sisters birthday party but didn't want to hold any grudges. It just wasn't like her.

The lightning mage made his way to the job board and began searching around, knowing there was a certain job there that he had been wanting for a while. Around this time every year the same person always had this job and every year he took it. Only this time, he would take Gajeel, knowing the raven would love it just as much as he did. It wouldn't make up for what he did, but it was a great first start. He finally found it and quickly took the flier over to Mirajane who was observing him with curiosity. Once she saw the flier her blue eyes lit up with understanding.

"I knew you would grab that one. That explains why you're here so early." She said, taking note that Laxus was going on this certain mission.

"If any one else were to take it, there'd be hell to pay. Especially this year." He replied, scanning over the paper and reading the details. A simple search and capture mission.

"Oh? Why's that? Are groups that you like going this time?" She asked, wondering why Laxus seemed so determined to take this job.

"That, and I'm going with someone. Mark down that Gajeel's coming with me." He replied, shocking the white haired woman.

"Gajeel? My, that's unexpected. How did you get him to agree to that?"

"I didn't. Not yet, anyways. But I've got a pretty good feeling he won't say no."

"Well then good luck! Let me know how it goes, okay?" She asked with a smile, watching as Laxus nodded and walked away. Before he made it to the exit she called out to him again.

"Oh, and Laxus?" She said, waiting for him to turn around before letting some of her magic slip out to create a dark aura around her. "Don't ever pull a stunt like that at my sisters birthday again. Or mine, or Elfmans, or anyone else's." She finished with a smile that was anything but nice. Laxus gulped and quickly nodded before sprinting out of the guild. He wanted to get away from Mira before she killed him.

He started walking towards Gajeel's house, mind wandering to last night. After calming Gajeel down a little he decided to go home. A huge part of him wanted him to stay and comfort the younger dragon slayer but he also knew Gajeel needed time alone. He still felt terrible for how he acted, not just last night, but since the beginning. Even when Gajeel had barely joined the guild. He regretted ever hurting the man at all. His instincts had just taken control and he couldn't control it. He wondered if he would still have problems controlling himself around Gajeel. The raven was stubborn and stuck in his ways, but then again, Laxus knew he wouldn't be the same after everything. Just knowing that made him feel worse. As much as the cocky, defiant side of Gajeel annoyed him he also knew he wouldn't be the same without it. He wanted Gajeel to be himself again, but then again he didn't. It was confusing as always.

Shaking the thoughts away, he took out the piece of paper as Gajeel's house came into view. He could still smell Gajeel which meant he was home, thankfully. He didn't want to go searching all over town again. While he strongly felt that Gajeel would say yes, a small part of him was nervous. What if he said no? Or got mad? Did Gajeel even want to see him? No, he couldn't think like that. He was here to make things right and that's what he would do. With a determined nod he knocked on the door, ears picking up on Gajeel's slightly irritated voice asking who could be knocking at this hour. Laxus had completely forgotten how early it was and wondered if Gajeel had been sleeping. He was surprised when Gajeel opened the door, fully dressed and looking wide awake. His usual scowl completely vanished when he saw Laxus, and instead turned into an emotionless mask. He wasn't really sure how to feel about Laxus now, or how to act.

"You're up early." They both ended up saying, causing Laxus to smirk and Gajeel to look away and blush slightly.

"Lily made me get up to fix all the walls and shit." Gajeel said, mentally cursing his cat who was still sleeping. He noticed how Laxus looked away guiltily and decided to change the subject. "What are you doing here?" He asked, glancing down at the paper in Laxus' hand.

"I came to see if you would go on this job with me. You don't have to." He said, handing the flier over to Gajeel who began reading it. Almost instantly his eyes shot open and his jaw dropped.

"How did you get this?! I've never seen a job for _this_!" He said in shock, not believing his eyes.

"We get one every year and I always take it. I'm guessing you like it?" Laxus asked, resisting the urge to grin like an idiot. He just knew Gajeel would like it, and found his reaction incredibly cute. It was like a little kid opening a Christmas present.

"Are you kidding?! I fucking love it! I've only been there a few times but I've been wanting to go again! We don't have to pay or anything?" He asked in astonishment, completely forgetting that he should be mad at Laxus still.

"Nope, it's all free. So, what do you say? Wanna come with me?" Laxus asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. Gajeel seemed to come back down to Earthland and regarded Laxus with cautious eyes.

"I don't know...I mean, I want to but..." He said, trailing off as he thought about it. He really wanted to go but..he was still pretty hurt. But still...deep down he wanted to be with Laxus and loved that he was trying to fix things. In the end, he couldn't really say no to those hopeful blue eyes. "Sure, why not."

"Alright!" Laxus practically cheered, collecting himself when Gajeel raised an eyebrow and somewhat smirked. "I mean, cool, okay. We leave in a few hours, can you be ready by then?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the train station later." Gajeel said, eyes widening as he was suddenly pulled into a hug.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." He replied, smiling as he felt Gajeel slowly hug back. It was a small gesture, but meant the world to him.

"Yeah, later.."

* * *

Pantherlily watched as Gajeel threw clothes haphazardly into a suitcase, wondering why his partner seemed so jittery. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Gajeel was excited. It was good to see him like this, sure, but it raised a few questions.

"Where are you going?" He finally decided to ask since Gajeel showed no signs of telling him.

"On a mission with Laxus, actually." Gajeel said, forgetting Pantherlily was even there. He had gotten too caught up in his thoughts. It could hardly be helped with all of the excitement.

"Oh? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lily asked, openly surprised. He wasn't expecting Gajeel to want to see Laxus, much less go on a mission. And why was he so happy?

"Not really, but I can't say no to this. It's the mission of my dreams." Gajeel said with a grin, feeling a surge of energy pass through him. He just wanted to be there already!

"Where exactly are you going?" The Exceed asked, feeling more confused by the second.

"To Onibus. Every year they have this huge concert and apparently our guild gets a job request from them. I've only been a few times but it kicks ass." Gajeel explained, practically shaking from excitement. Pantherlily nodded in understanding. He knew how much Gajeel loved music which explained why he was so adamant about going. He also knew Laxus had a passion for music since he hardly ever took off those sound pods. Everything finally made sense. Well, almost everything.

"But wait, what job could they possibly have for you?"

"Apparently every year someone tries fucking everything up. The bands that usually play there are pretty hardcore, some people don't like them, so they try killing them or some shit. Our job is to make sure that doesn't happen, and if it does, we capture whoever does it. The awesome part is we don't pay for shit and we still get to watch the bands perform, as long as we keep our eyes open for dumbasses." Gajeel explained as he snapped his suitcase shut.

"I see. Well, just be careful I guess. Let me know how it goes." Pantherlily said, following Gajeel to the door.

"You don't wanna come?" Gajeel asked in slight surprise. He half expected Pantherlily to come with.

"No, I actually...erm...have plans tonight. Carla invited me to Fairy Hills." The cat reluctantly said, his furry cheeks turning pink. Gajeel immediately started laughing.

"Oh ho! My cats finally gonna get some! I'm surprised she even still wants to talk to you after you ditched her the other night." Gajeel said with a mischievous smirk, thoroughly enjoying his cats embarrassment.

"It's not like I had a choice." He grumbled, obviously still kicking himself for leaving Carla. He considered himself very lucky that she even invited him over.

"Well, you'd better make it up to her tonight then." Gajeel said with a wink, causing Lily to blush more and push his partner outside before flying off in the direction of Fairy Hills. Gajeel merely laughed at how shy Lily could be sometimes. He locked up his house before picking up his bag and leaving. Just thinking about the concert made him practically run to the train station. He was a little concerned about staying with Laxus but decided he wouldn't let it ruin his time. He knew Laxus was trying, and this was a great way to start, but he couldn't help but be nervous. Something told him Laxus would revert back to his usual ways and be an asshole.

He forced the thoughts away as the station came into view. As soon as he walked into the station he immediately found Laxus, the man sticking out like a sore thumb since he was so tall. When the blonde saw Gajeel he smiled and pulled out their tickets, handing the raven his when he walked over. A small part of him thought Gajeel wouldn't come and he was starting to get nervous. But seeing Gajeel made his worries go away immediately and he felt happy. If someone were to tell him Gajeel Redfox would make him this happy before everything happened, he would have laughed in their face. But now everything was different, _he_ was different. To think Gajeel could ever change his life like this.

The two wordlessly waited for the train to come in, yet somehow the silence wasn't awkward. Laxus could tell Gajeel was too excited to care about anything right now and still found it adorable. Never in his life did he think Gajeel was capable of emotions. Yet in such a short amount of time he had seen just about every emotion possible. Anger, sadness, fear, happiness. He was hoping to see more of the latter soon. Gajeel was already attractive but when he smiled it took things to another level.

Eventually the train pulled in and the two somewhat reluctantly got on, neither wanting to get sick. Laxus never really had a problem with motion sickness but that was because he listened to music. Gajeel however was a different story. He didn't immediately get sick like Natsu but once they were moving his stomach started churning. He really didn't want to throw up in front of Laxus, not again anyways. But as the train started picking up speed he knew he was doomed. Laxus noticed how the smaller mans face started turning green and felt bad for him, wondering how he could help. He didn't want Gajeel to throw up either. He then got an idea and wondered if Gajeel would get mad.

"Oi, come here." He said, making Gajeel glance over at him slowly. Laxus patted the empty seat next to him, and for a moment thought he would say no, but then Gajeel slowly got up and sat next to him. Laxus wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer, noticing how Gajeel tensed up immediately. "Calm down, I'm helping you. This always makes me feel better." He said as he removed one of his sound pods and put it over Gajeel's ear. The ravens eyes widened as music filled his ears, a song he both recognized and loved, and relaxed. He was also shocked Laxus would share his music. He knew the man was protective of his sound pods and never shared with anyone. The fact that he was willing to share just to make him feel better made Gajeel warm inside.

"I never would've thought you liked this music." Gajeel said, relaxing more as Laxus turned the volume up slightly.

"Why's that?" Laxus asked. He couldn't really say the same about Gajeel since the man made it very obvious.

"Dunno." He shrugged, "I knew you liked music and all that, I just didn't know what genre. Can't say I'm disappointed."

"I like all kinds, classic rock is just my favorite." Laxus replied as another song came up, absentmindedly twirling the wire of his sound pods around.

"All kinds eh? Even techno and all that shit?"

"Techno, country, hip hop, you name it. Why, you don't like techno?"

"It's not my favorite. Hate country. Hip hop...depends I guess. I like more hardcore shit." Gajeel said with a grin, causing Laxus to smirk.

"Oh yeah? Like screamo and all that?" Laxus asked, laughing as Gajeel nodded his head with an evil smirk.

"You got it. Don't get me wrong, I love classic too, but there's nothing like coming home from a hard mission and blasting some death metal." He replied, not even noticing that he and Laxus were having an actual conversation as if everything never happened. The sound of Laxus' laughing was just too comforting.

"You got that right. Well, there's a few of those types of bands playing at the concert. Should be fun. You gonna crowd surf?" Laxus asked, enjoying how Gajeel unknowingly relaxed into his arms, practically laying on him.

"Fuck yes! You better do it too Sparky, or I'll throw you in a mosh pit." Gajeel threatened, causing Laxus to laugh more.

"Believe me, I will. And we'll be in mosh pits anyways."

"True. Che, I feel sorry for the poor bastard who gets in our way. I'll beat the hell out of them and you'll probably just murder everyone." Gajeel said with a smirk, feeling more excited by the minute.

"Wouldn't be the first time. I send a few people to the hospital every year. But we also have to keep watch, so we can't get too caught up in everything." Laxus reminded him, a fact Gajeel was quickly forgetting.

"Oh yeah. Tch, who the hell decides to go ruin a concert? I can't wait to wring his neck." Gajeel said with a frown. He had completely forgotten about the mission.

"You'd be surprised. We're not aloud to kill him though, unfortunately."

"Damn shame, too. Well, whatever, I just want to get there already." Gajeel said, looking out the window and instantly feeling sick. Laxus noticed and tugged him a little closer.

"It'll be a while before we get there. Why don't you sleep or something? Time goes by faster." Laxus suggested, secretly just wanting Gajeel to sleep in his arms.

"Well..yeah, but...you want me to sleep on you?" Gajeel asked, looking up at Laxus in confusion. The blonde was momentarily lost in a sea of red before he remembered he should say something.

"I don't care, Gajeel. As long as you're comfortable." Laxus replied, causing Gajeel to blush and look down. He wasn't use to Laxus being so nice.

"Well...then...okay, I guess." Gajeel said, resting his head on Laxus' broad shoulder. Laxus smiled and changed the song to a more calming one, mind wandering as he gazed out into the passing scenery. Gajeel seemed to be warming up to him rather fast, he supposed it had something to do with his instincts. After all, he was a submissive, this probably felt right for him. Laxus wasn't complaining though. He was just happy Gajeel trusted him enough to sleep on him like this.

Looking back down, he found Gajeel sound asleep, and subtly kissed the top of his head. Things would get better.

* * *

Laxus woke up just as the train jerked to a stop, not realizing he even fell asleep. He held Gajeel back as the man jolted due to the stop, not wanting him to fall. The raven slowly opened his eyes and looked around, instantly waking up as he realized they had arrived in Onibus. Laxus laughed to himself as Gajeel practically sprinted out of the train and into Onibus' station. He grabbed both of their luggage's and followed the smaller man, wondering what they should do now. The concert didn't start for some time and they needed somewhere to put their stuff. Checking into a hotel would probably be smart. Luckily there was a hotel close to the concerts location that he always stayed at, so they could just go there.

"Come on, let's go check in." Laxus said as he left the station, Gajeel quickly following. When they arrived at the hotel his jaw dropped.

"What the hell...is this even a hotel?!" He asked in astonishment, gazing up at the impossibly tall tower of a building.

"Best in all of Onibus. Let's go get a room." Laxus said as if it were nothing. Gajeel could only manage to follow him, wondering if Laxus had gone crazy. They couldn't possibly be staying here, it was too nice! As soon as they entered the lobby and walked up to the front desk, the man working there smiled and waved at Laxus.

"Ah, back again Mr. Dreyar? Here for the concert I assume." He said, glancing over at Gajeel and smiling nervously. Gajeel was a bit...intimidating. But, so was Laxus.

"You know it. The usual room available?" He asked casually, ignoring the mans nervousness towards Gajeel.

"Ah..yes, yes it is! Let me just check you in and get your keys." He replied quickly, eager to get away from Gajeel's piercing eyes. Once he left Laxus turned towards him and almost laughed at how serious the raven looked. With a face like that, it was no wonder why the man was scared.

"Oi, quit scaring the poor guy. He didn't do anything to you." Laxus said, smirking as those angry red eyes snapped up to him.

"He looked at me funny. And he's too friendly. And why are we staying here? Isn't this expensive? You can't possibly afford this." Gajeel said, narrowing his eyes as Laxus laughed at him.

"Take it easy, killer, I'd look at you funny too if I didn't know you. And don't worry about the cost, I can handle it." He replied, taking the keys as the man came back.

"Alright then, it's gonna be 50,000,000 jewels." He said, causing Gajeel to nearly pass out. That was so much money!

"Ah, you gave me a discount. You're too nice." Laxus said, snorting at Gajeel's petrified face. Even after a discount it was that expensive?!

"Well we do see you every year and you always help us out. It's the least I can do. Onibus thrives on it's musical arts, if someone were to ruin this we would lose money." The man replied, trying his best to ignore Gajeel who was looking at him like he had three heads.

"It's no big deal, but thanks anyways." Laxus said as he walked away, waving lazily at the man and dragging a stunned Gajeel with him to the elevators. Once the doors closed, he pushed the button with a 'P' on it. Once the elevator started going up, and up, and up, Gajeel became more suspicious.

"How high up are we going?!" He finally asked, starting to feel nauseous. Laxus merely pulled him closer and once again covered one ear with a sound pod.

"You'll see." He said after a moment, grinning as the door opened. The two walked out, staying close so they could both listen to music, and then found their room. When Laxus opened the door he had to catch Gajeel before he really did pass out.

"Y-you...you got a..." He stuttered, not being able to finish a sentence.

"A penthouse suite? Yeah, I did. Why else would it be so expensive?" He asked, nudging the raven into the room so he could close the door. He watched as Gajeel slowly walked into the room, looking everywhere in awe. It reminded Laxus of a little kid in a candy store.

The room was massive and beautifully decorated, with white granite floors and matching walls. There was a huge kitchen with black counters and a dining table with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Two of the walls were purely windows which overlooked the entire town and the horizon, and two large glass doors led out onto the deck where a small hot tub was and a few chairs. There was a living area with a large lacrima screen and a huge L-shaped couch made of black leather and matching chairs. A set of spiraling crystal stairs led to the second floor where the bedroom and bathroom were. The room had a tan colored carpet with dark brown walls and a deep red colored circular bed. To the left was a large bathroom with white marble floors and light blue walls, with a glass shower and big bath tub. Just like the first floor, a whole wall was dedicated to windows. Since they were so high up it didn't really matter. No body could see them.

Gajeel numbly fell onto the bed, dropping his bag in the process. This was undoubtedly the nicest room he had ever been in. All thoughts about the concert vanished as he relaxed into the luxurious bed, he didn't even realize he would be sleeping with Laxus. He should be bothered by that fact and yet...he couldn't bring himself to care. He was going too easy on the man, he knew that, and yet he didn't want to do anything else. Being with Laxus still felt right.

"I'm guessing you like it?" Laxus asked as he walked upstairs, watching as Gajeel merely nodded.

"Well, you can't just lay there all day, we have to get ready and go. The concert starts in an hour." He said, causing Gajeel to jump up.

"An hour?! Shit!" He exclaimed, digging through his luggage and grabbing some clothes before running into the bathroom for a shower. Laxus decided to unpack while Gajeel showered, not really concerned about being late. It would only take him a second to get there anyway with his magic. He picked out an outfit and changed, quickly fixing his hair before putting some shoes on. He decided to avoid his coat since it would probably be hot in the crowd. He ended up choosing his plain red t-shirt and black pants.

Just as he finished getting ready the bathroom door opened and Gajeel emerged, and as soon as Laxus saw him his jaw dropped. Gajeel looked...positively delicious. He was dressed in a dark purple shirt with a matching bandana, his hair pulled back except for two long strands that framed his face. He wore black pants that were somewhat tighter than usual with a studded belt and his usual black studded boots. While he didn't look much different than usual he did look good, _very_ good.

"Let's go already!" Gajeel said, already walking downstairs. All Laxus could focus on was the way his ass looked in those pants.

Tonight would be fun.

* * *

**XD yeah, I ended it on that note. What can come from a sexy Gajeel and a perverted Laxus? You'll just have to wait until next chapter. And don't worry, all the drama between these two isn't over. It just took a little break. Anywho, remember to leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I know, it's been forever since I've updated. I've been busy with work and getting prepared for the holidays. My mom's on a cleaning spree and is dragging me along with her-.- But I finally found the time to start this chapter, which in all honesty, hasn't had much planning. I don't really know what's going to happen. So, be ready for that. Now, keyboard, take me away!**

* * *

"So how far away is it, anyway?" Gajeel asked as they walked downstairs to the main floor of their room. He figured it must be close since it was already so late and they hadn't even left yet. He had no idea what Laxus was _actually_ planning.

"Not that far, maybe a twenty minute walk." Laxus replied nonchalantly, causing Gajeel to pause and stare incredulously at him.

"Twenty minutes?! We'll never get there in time! Why didn't you say something sooner?!" He practically yelled. Laxus merely smirked and gestured to the door that led to the deck outside.

"We'll get there on time, don't worry. I've got my own ways of traveling." He replied. Gajeel gulped and started backing away when he realized what Laxus meant.

"There's no fucking way I'm doing that. Your lightning hurts, in case you forgot." Gajeel said with a growl. He should have known Laxus was planning something like this.

"Relax, it won't hurt this time. I can control my lightning in case _you_ forgot. Besides, you don't wanna be late, do you?" Laxus asked, knowing Gajeel wouldn't risk missing the concert just because he was afraid of lightning.

"Wait...so that other time in that dark guild, when you used your magic to go faster, you let it hurt me?!" The raven asked angrily. Laxus frowned in thought, wondering if he did in fact let that happen. At that time he didn't really care if Gajeel was hurt. Not as much, at least. Still, he was pretty sure that time had been an accident.

"I was panicking too much to control it. You were kind of dying in my arms." He eventually responded, causing Gajeel to roll his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, so shocking me was a _great_ idea." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Laxus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, not wanting to argue any more.

"Can we just go already? We really are going to be late now. I promise I won't hurt you, okay?" Laxus asked, flinching at what Gajeel said next.

"Why would I trust you? All you've ever done is hurt me."

There was a brief moment of silence before Laxus could shake off the hurt and form a response. Gajeel noticed how his words effected the blonde and oddly enough felt bad. It wasn't a complete lie, Laxus had hurt him way too much, but maybe he had been a little harsh. Laxus was doing all of this to make up for it after all. But he sure as hell wouldn't take his words back.

"You're right. I don't expect you to trust me. Forget I said that. Let's just go." Laxus said, his voice void of any emotion. He wordlessly grabbed Gajeel by the wrist and somewhat forcefully pulled him outside, knowing the man wouldn't come any other way. Before Gajeel could say anything else they were already flying over the city at a blinding speed. It felt weird moving that fast and made Gajeel nervous, but not once did it hurt. Now he really felt bad. When they suddenly appeared right in the middle of a massive crowd of people he quickly forgot about feeling bad and instead felt incredibly excited. Laxus had transported them not too far from the stage and the best part was they didn't have to wait in line for tickets or anything. Sounds of cheering erupted as the first band of the night came on, causing Gajeel to grin and start shoving his way towards the front. Laxus watched him go with a sad smile, hoping things between them would get better.

His face turned serious as he remembered why they were even here. He almost called out to Gajeel but then stopped himself. Why not let the guy have fun? He could handle this by himself anyways. He made his way through the crowd, looking more like a security guard than a guest. He made sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but in a crowded place like this that was kind of hard. A lot if people looked suspicious. Some people dressed strangely and danced like they were having seizures, while others passed pipes and joints around, undoubtedly smoking something illegal. Laxus shook his head in amusement. It was always amazing what you see at a concert.

A sudden scream made him turn and lightning sparked around his fist, thinking it was the killer, but it turned out to be a mosh pit. The song was more intense than what he usually listened to and he knew Gajeel must be going crazy right now. He wondered if the raven was okay but then quickly brushed that thought aside. Gajeel could handle himself just fine. Besides, now wasn't the time to think about him, he had a mission to do. He ended up going all the way to the back of the crowd and didn't see anything, so he decided to head back to the front. The closer he got to the stage the harder it was to move. People were shoving each other and jumping all around it was impossible to not get hit. He ended up getting caught in a few mosh pits and knocked some people out but eventually made his way back to where Gajeel had been. Only, Gajeel wasn't there. Frowning, he followed the man's scent, scowling as he also smelled perfume. A lot of it, too. When he finally found Gajeel he growled at the sight of several scantily clad women clinging all over him. Gajeel looked up at him and shrugged, as if saying he didn't know why he was surrounded by women, but Laxus knew why. Gajeel was too damn sexy for his own good.

Some of the girls noticed Laxus and sauntered over to him, grabbing on to his arms and giving him bedroom eyes, but he payed no attention to them. His angry eyes were locked on Gajeel, the feeling of jealousy almost too much to bare. Was this how Gajeel felt when he kissed Cana? It was a horrible feeling, no wonder he had been so mad. But he wasn't going to stand here while a bunch of whores touched _his_ man.

"Get the fuck off him." He yelled since the music was so loud. The women looked confused and somewhat mad, and didn't budge. Gajeel however was surprised at how mad Laxus was. It was somewhat amusing and he wanted to take advantage of it since Laxus had made him that mad too. So, he ever so subtly wrapped an arm around the one who kept trying to tear his shirt off.

"Why should we? He doesn't seem to mind." She said with a sly grin, fingers playing over Gajeel's toned arm. Lightning began sparking over Laxus' body, causing the girls around him to jump away.

"He's _mine_." He growled, stalking forward like a predator and grabbing Gajeel by the front of his shirt, yanking him forward and roughly kissing him. Gajeel's entire body felt like it was on fire. The fact that Laxus was so riled up and acting so possessive was actually turning him on.

"Gay?! Tch, that's disappointing. Whatever, we'll go find someone else." She replied, walking away with the rest of her gang of whores. Gajeel stared up at Laxus with a dumbstruck expression, feeling fear creep up his spine. Laxus was giving him the most pissed off look he had ever seen. Apparently he had seen what Gajeel did.

"Just what the fuck was that?!" He yelled, keeping a firm hold on the smaller man's shirt.

"T-they came up to me, I didn't do anything." He said, hating himself for stuttering. But damn, Laxus was scary when he was pissed.

"Then why did you wrap your arm around her?! Were you trying to get revenge, is that it?!" He yelled, tightening his hold when Gajeel didn't reply. "You _were_! You were getting fucking revenge! I swear to God, Gajeel, if we weren't in public right now I'd—"

Laxus was cut off as several screams erupted, and he looked up just in time to see someone grab the lead singer by the neck and hold a blade to his throat. He angrily dropped Gajeel and transported to the stage, Gajeel quickly following behind him. Before the guy even knew what was happening Laxus had him pinned to the floor. However, a second killer was quick to come up behind Laxus. The blonde looked behind him just as Gajeel tackled the man to the ground. Several more men came running onto the stage, all holding various weapons, and before they knew it Gajeel and Laxus were back to back, throwing punches at the assassins. Laxus used his magic to shock some of them, rendering them unconscious, while Gajeel used his iron dragons roar to take out the others. Once they were all unconscious, security guards rushed on stage and tied them up.

"Once again, thank you Laxus. And you too Mr. Redfox. You've saved our concert just like always. Expect your reward when you return to Fairy Tail." One of the guards said as he dragged some of the men away.

"Yeah yeah, no big deal." Laxus replied with a scowl, turning towards the band who had been hiding in a corner. "You keep playing. They won't attack you again." He said, and the band quickly nodded and began playing. The crowd returned to normal, and soon it was like nothing happened. Laxus turned to Gajeel who was eyeing him wearily, and yanked him closer once again. "Don't even think we're finished. Enjoy this while you can, because when we get back to the room we're going to have a talk." He growled into Gajeel's ear before shoving him off stage and into the crowd who happily caught him. Laxus lunged in and also crowd surfed, figuring he might as well try to enjoy himself and forget what happened.

He would definitely deal with Gajeel later.

* * *

The rest of the concert had gone by way too fast for Gajeel. As soon as the last band finished up he was being roughly grabbed by Laxus and transported back to the hotel, and this time it did hurt, if only a little. Laxus was obviously trying to control himself but the man was undoubtedly angry. Despite all of the fear though Gajeel still felt somewhat aroused by how jealous Laxus had been. As he was dragged upstairs to their bedroom his fear and arousal grew. Just what would Laxus do to him?

He was roughly slammed into a wall and could only wince at the angry and hurt look in those blue eyes. He wanted Laxus to feel hurt, but then again, he didn't. Nobody deserved to feel like that, but Laxus had done the same thing to him. What was he supposed to do?

"I know damn well why you did that Gajeel. You wanted to hurt me like I hurt you. Well, congratulations, it worked. But if you think I'll let you get away with it then you're dead wrong." Laxus growled angrily, making Gajeel shiver subconsciously.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Gajeel asked, hating himself for stuttering. Laxus was just too scary when he was mad, and it was only natural for Gajeel to feel scared.

"Remind you exactly who you belong to." Laxus muttered darkly before throwing Gajeel onto the bed. The raven gulped as Laxus was suddenly on top of him, not sure if he completely hated his punishment. He shouldn't want this, not after everything Laxus did to him, but deep down he knew it was right. And the fact that Laxus was doing all of this for him made him happy, though he would never admit it. So when Laxus started kissing him roughly, he kissed back.

This only spurred the blonde on, and he soon began attacking Gajeel's neck, making sure to leave marks. Gajeel was his and he would make sure everyone knew. He quickly got rid of Gajeel's shirt, finding the material annoying, and began licking and nipping his way down Gajeel's muscled torso. When he finally reached the man's pants he unzipped them and in a flash they were across the room. Gajeel gulped as he realized what Laxus was doing. If this was punishment then he would make Laxus jealous all the time.

Laxus waisted no time though and quickly had all of Gajeel's pulsing length in his mouth, causing the younger man to suck in a breath and buck his hips. Laxus' mouth was so warm, it felt like heaven, and when he started bobbing his head up and down Gajeel almost lost it. Laxus made sure to pay attention to the studs in Gajeel's cock, channelling a tiny bit of his magic into his tongue. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but he would feel it, and it would most likely feel amazing. Sure enough, Gajeel let out possibly the most delicious sound Laxus had ever heard. He mentally slapped himself for getting turned on. This wasn't for pleasure, it was punishment, and Gajeel would realize that soon.

Gajeel knew he should be ashamed for all the indecent noises he was making but couldn't be bothered to care. Everything Laxus did just felt too good, and it's not like the blonde cared. He seemed to be enjoying it. He wondered how this was punishment, since Laxus usually was more...brutal. At least last time he was. But then again, he had changed. Still though Gajeel felt slightly paranoid. Laxus on the other hand was doing his best to make Gajeel cum. Between his magic and the fast pace he knew Gajeel would burst any second now. He really wanted to fuck Gajeel straight into the ground but he didn't want to hurt him, not anymore. This would do.

It didn't take long for Gajeel to feel the end approaching. Laxus knew he was at his limits by how hard he was gripping his hair. Part of him wanted to let him finish, to watch as he came undone, to taste his essence, but he knew he couldn't. Not tonight.

Because this was punishment.

So, just as Gajeel was on the edge of blissful oblivion, Laxus pulled away.

Gajeel couldn't believe it. He knew something would happen, but wasn't expecting that. He whined pitifully at the loss of warmth and felt terribly unsatisfied as the feeling of ecstasy ebbed away. Laxus smirked at the raven, ignoring his own throbbing arousal.

"You bastard!" Gajeel growled breathlessly. The smug look on Laxus' face only pissed him off more. This was a cruel punishment.

"You really thought I'd let you finish? After what you did? I don't think so." Laxus said, watching as Gajeel angrily got up.

"Fuck you." He growled as he walked into the bathroom, most likely to take a cold shower or finish himself off.

"Wouldn't you like to." Laxus replied as he watched Gajeel disappear into the bathroom. He couldn't help but stare right at Gajeel's ass. Someday he would be able to do whatever he wanted with that ass. Someday hopefully soon.

* * *

The next morning Laxus woke to a very grumpy Gajeel. He expected that much and knew he had to make up for it. He _was_ technically trying to fix their relationship, and he couldn't do that while Gajeel was mad. Which is why he made breakfast while Gajeel sulked. He could just order room service, but that would be too easy. If he wanted Gajeel's love he would have to work for it, and he planned on doing just that. He had a whole day planned for the two of them but knew Gajeel wouldn't go unless he fixed this. Sure, he could just force him, but he didn't want to do that anymore.

He didn't really know what Gajeel ate besides iron so he just made everything. Once everything was finished he put it all on a tray and carried it upstairs. Gajeel's eyes widened when he saw how much food Laxus made. He knew the blonde was cooking, he could smell it, but he had no idea it was this much. It was a touching gesture, but it didn't exactly make up for blue balls.

Laxus got comfortable next to the still silent Gajeel and began eating, smiling when Gajeel reluctantly did the same. Laxus knew he wasn't really that mad, since they still slept in the same bed last night. He had a very hard time keeping his hands to himself though, since Gajeel wasn't the only one left unsatisfied. But he wouldn't even try that yet, Gajeel would probably bite his hand off. For now he was fine with just sitting next to the man.

"I've got some things planned for today." Laxus began, not surprised when Gajeel didn't say anything. He would obviously have to do the talking. "There's a really nice restaurant I always go to so I made reservations for tonight. There's also this park...well, you'll see. After we eat and clean up a bit we'll go." He finished explaining, smirking when Gajeel growled. The raven didn't like being told what to do but Laxus knew he would obey anyways.

Once they finished eating Laxus took the tray back downstairs and then the two got in a shower. Another sign Gajeel wasn't that mad. He even let Laxus massage shampoo into his scalp and unknowingly relaxed into the man's broad chest. Laxus smirked at this, loving how easily Gajeel's smaller body fit against his. He knew he shouldn't, but he let his hand wander down Gajeel's muscled chest, leaving a trail of suds in its wake. Gajeel shivered despite himself. He was still pretty mad about last night, but he was also in need of some release. And apparently Laxus was too, if the hard object pressing against his ass was what he thought it was.

He tensed up as Laxus' hand went lower, and he felt sharp teeth nipping at his neck. Each touch sent little jolts to his groin and soon enough he felt himself growing hard. He mentally cursed Laxus for being so damn sexy. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Laxus grabbed him by the chin and angled his face so that their lips were inches apart. Cloudy blue met blood red and Gajeel felt his knees go weak. How could he ever stay mad at that face?

"You still mad?" Laxus asked, his voice huskier than usual. It sent another shiver down Gajeel's spine and all he could manage to do was shake his head no. He received a kiss for this, but all too quickly it ended.

"Do you want this? If you're not ready I understand. Last night was to prove a point, but this is different. I want to show you that I love you, Gajeel. But if you're not ready...I'll stop." Laxus said, holding his breath as Gajeel thought it over. Did he want this? His other head was telling him hell yes, but he couldn't think with that head. He needed to ask himself if he really was ready for this. For real sex with Laxus. Even though the man cheated on him and broke his heart, he really was trying to make it better. And Gajeel would be lying if he said he didn't want a real relationship with Laxus. So, after a moment of thinking, he answered.

"I'm ready."

* * *

**So, funny story. This was actually supposed to get posted days ago. But, half of it got deleted (don't ask me how, I don't even know) and then I had to rewrite it. But, since I forgot what I wrote and didn't feel like doing it all over again, It took way longer than expected. Plus my new phone has the worst keyboard and I just haven't felt like dealing with it. So that's my excuse for taking forever. Sorry!**


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